Hi, I'm Debbie. I have spent my entire adult life working in the mental health system. I think I recognized my passion for the field during my undergraduate program when, needing another elective, I signed up for Intro to Psychology. I was hooked, and it was as though the light was turned on in a dark room. I am rarely happier than when I am working with a client, group, or class. After nearly 25 years of working in a variety of settings, my happiness, curiosity, and passion remain as keen as they were sitting in that first class with an entire new world opening up. I earned my BA in Psychology at Pacific Lutheran University in 1992. After seven years in the field, interviewing literally thousands of individuals, I decided that I wanted to take my career to the next level. I enrolled in the University of Washington's Master of Social Work program at their Tacoma campus. I earned my MSW in 2002. Throughout this time, I continued to work in the field, gaining experience, insight, and honing my voice as a therapist. My experience ranges from triaging new clients to the correct services to working in tribal health as a domestic violence victim counselor. I have worked with maternity support, including covering 3 area hospitals on the L&D and NICU. And I was lucky to spend several years working with dialysis clients. When people ask me with what age groups I've worked, my answer is usually "from the cradle to the grave". While this is technically true, I primarily work with adolescents, adults, and elders in a variety of configurations (individual, family, group, etc). And now we come to my dream, Connections Counseling & Consulting. While contracting at Joint Base Lewis/McChord, I took a fall that was serious. I had a choice. I could hang out and work only on healing or I could grab a chance and follow that dream I'd held for years. Connections was born. While I have loved each position that I have held and learned so much there are areas in which I excel, including individual, couples, family, and group counseling, classes are currently being formulated, and writing. My specialties include domestic violence, crisis intervention, working with adolescents with challenges, diagnostics, grief & loss, and end of life issues. While I have a wide range of tools with which to assist people, I also believe that therapy, although you may return to it several times through your life, should not be your life. So I tend to look at the problem my client brings to the table and seek out solutions to the problem. I believe in my practice, I trust my skills, and I love what I do. I feel blessed that my life's work is about helping people meet their goals. And I can't wait to see how this process unfolds. I appreciate you checking out my page -- check out my website at www.dmischo.com, where you can contact me and find helpful resources. Namaste and let's see where this journey goes!
