We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Leslie Slemmons a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Leslie, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today If you had a defining moment that you feel really changed the trajectory of your career, we’d love to hear the story and details.
I was 17 years old and really struggling with the idea about going to college and not feeling ready, even though everyone around me was. There was a ton of pressure to go to college, from other people asking questions all the time about my plans, everyone else talking about where they were going, etc. But in my heart I knew I wanted to travel and see the world. Experiencing other people in different cultures felt more important than doing what other people expected or needed me to do. So I decided to take off 1 semester and spend a few months in the Philippines. I am Filipino American so desired at some point to visit the homeland and see my grandma who cared for me as a child and now lived there. My mom’s boss had adopted 2 children from an orphanage who was able to connect me to The Heart of Mary Villa, an orphanage located in Manila. This defining moment played such an huge impact in my life. It was the first time I really did something for myself, not what I felt I had to do for other people (hello huge people pleaser here!). My time in the Philippines connected me to my roots and the parts within me that carry such culture and felt ashamed due to living in America/colonization. I also got to shadow social workers there who truly help such importance in the community connecting resources, carrying for the babies, and really being leaders in the orphanage and in the surrounding area. To this day it still is the inspiration that keeps me in the field, reminds me of who I am, and how important it is to listen to my intuition and have that guide me in my decisions.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Hello! My name is Leslie Slemmons, my pronouns are she/her/hers. Other identities I carry are being bi-racial, Filipino American, 2nd generation immigrant, I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, mother of 4 children (who are mixed race), and holding white assumed privilege. Currently I spend most of my time at home child-raising and a few days I work as a therapist in private practice. I offer 1:1 individual therapy to folx as a way to support their connect with Self and integrating parts of themselves that are giving them difficulty. I’ve been a social worker for 20 years with experience in schools, non-profits, domestic violence, addiction, parenting, crisis prevention, work with adolescence and adults and group practices. In 2020 I sought additional training in yoga and meditation (200 hour) and am currently in a 6 year study of the Yoga Sutras and chanting/mantra practice. I also received in 2023 Level 1 training in Internal Family Systems with a focus on somatic integration (mind/body internal connections). I often think what makes me different in the mental health field is my integration of western and eastern philosophy, my integrated practice, and the idea that as a therapist I’m really more of a “midwife for the soul” assessing for psychological and spiritual support. I am so proud of the space I hold for clients in acknowledging my own limits and doing my own work so that those limits don’t become barriers to my clients healing process. I find it such a honor that my clients choose to work with me in and with their vulnerabilities. I find such respect for the work of showing up and asking for help. My hope is that clients feel more embodied, better able to live in their lives, and find freedom in the restraints of what may be hindering their transformation.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
Fixing people is a huge lesson I’ve had to unlearn. When I went to school to be a social worker, I think one of the reasons was my own unconscious drive from my own childhood in having parents who had their own struggles and my need to want to fix them. I grew up with a dad who had his own trauma and I remember as a child wanting to help fix him, especially as I became a teen. I also witnessed how hard my mom worked as an immigrant in the USA and always providing for us. I too wanted her to have more time off and spend more time with us and fix her situation. When I went to the Philippines I saw that social workers made a difference and really helped to “fix” situations in finding the resources for those in need. As an early social worker, that energy carried through in my work ethic and my drive to really support people. I worked longer, harder than most of the other social workers, easily pulling 60-70 hour work weeks. It drove me to work for non-profits for low paying jobs, not asking for more, etc. About 10 years in, I started to burn out. People didn’t seemed “fixed”, in fact a lot of my clients at times needed more help, seemed to be worse off, and lacked the resources they needed (whether that was access to services, etc.). I started to get resentful, angry, annoyed, and checked- out. In my own therapy, I started to learn and see more of this patterning since childhood, of my need to want to control situations my fixing them, and how that had leaked over into the care I was providing my clients. As I gained more clarity, I was able to let go of that burden and re-learn this idea of support. What does it mean to hold space for an individual if I don’t have to fix them is a question I had to sit with and re-learn. How do I look at the intergenerational impact of colonization in being Filipino American? These are deep questions that have changed the service I provide to others in need.
Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?
When I first began as a social worker, I often got the advice from professors to do a “needs assessment” out in the community and meet the needs that are presented in the community. My early journey as a social worker was guided in that knowledge of meeting the clients needs and doing whatever is needed for the client. And over the years, that lead to burn-out, resentment, feeling over-worked, under paid and desperately wanting to leave the field. I did not feel successful within, even if my clients were doing better. When I opened my own private practice, I had the opportunity to work with some amazing mentors. One mentor in specific really challenged my belief that clients needs were more important than my own. Through her guidance I was able to embrace the idea that I mattered and that if I could embrace my own gifts and contribute that to the world, it actually too may meet clients needs. That has been the focus of my private practice. In spending my own time working on myself in understanding who I am and what gifts I have within, I now use that as a means to help contribute to the community. I leave work feeling restored and rejuvenated, excited to begin projects, instead of drained and defeated. Now I feel successful not just with my clients but also within.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.peacebypiecetherapycare.com
- Instagram: @peacebypiecetherapy
Image Credits
Gustavo at Oceano Blue