Interview with a Social Worker

Education:

Angela Nemecek-Haag: Psychotherapist

Client base

UNC

Angela told me that she works with any individual, but especially LGBTQ+, trans, non-binary, and neurodivergent patients.

"When you’re first starting out you’ll work with anyone, as you're just trying to get a client-base started.”

UMich

UVA

VCU

Angela L. Nemecek-Haag, LCSW

Client challenges

"Healing and Self-Exploration for Adults and Older Adolescents"

She did not explicitely state any challenges with her clients. She spoke of the difficulty of her work following her home and how she overcomes that.

Positives

My 2nd Question

1. Seeing clients graduate from therapy.
2. Seeing clients reach their goals.
3. Getting to help people and seeing results.

A day in the life...

CLIENT OUTCOMES

What did I takeaway?

Angela could not recall any negative client outcomes. She said her positive client outcomes occur when she's able to watch as a client meets their goals and/or progress forward.

Goals

Social work is an incredibly flexible career. Angela said that she's the type of person to switch career paths often, but she plans to stay in this one due to the expandability of the field. I also learned that working in private practice allows for higher fincial support, even if it has it's challenges.

“I think my goal going into the profession was to help people, to learn about different issues that people face , and to learn about different populations."

Negatives

working with others

1. Having to handle the lack of resources.
2. Navigating the behind-the-scenes work of bills/administration.
3. Not having other coworkers to refer to for casework/program issues.

As Angela works in her own private practice, she is the sole therapist. That said, she interacts with other therapists through consultations or if she has questions regarding systems/programs.

My 1st Question

insider trick

Q: Do the conversations/stories you hear from your clients ever follow you home after your work day?

Angela essentially said, "Yes, absoloutely". She spoke of her sister, who lives in North Carolina and who is in the process of obtaining a social work degree. She said that she sometimes calls her sister on the phone and tells her wild stories from her day working as a psychotherapist. She made sure to preface that no client name is ever said and she would never speak of a client if her sister could determine who the client is.

A day in the life...

Angela is currently working as a psychotherapist for her own private practice. Located in Charlottesville Va, Angela typically works with four clients per week. Her clients currently range in age from 18 to 68 years. She spends her work week meeting with clients, researching programs and resources, and writing notes. On Wednesdays, she spends her day working on the business side of running a private practice; paying bills, admin needs, accounting, and marketing.

https://www.angelanhlcsw.com/

Her time at UNC...

Angela attended UNC Chapel Hill for her undergrad degree. She obtained a Bachelor in English and a minor in Creative Writing and Linguistics. Angela said that she chose to major in English because she's always loved to read books and learn.

https://www.ourstate.com/how-unc-chapel-hill-became-the-nations-first-public-university/

University of Michigan

After four years at UNC, Angela chose to pursue an MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Michigan.

https://michigan.law.umich.edu/about-michigan-law

University of Virginia

Angela then made the decision to apply to Ph.D programs for English Literature and was accepted to the program at UVA. She then recieved her Ph.D in English and this is where her journal to Social Work began...

https://news.virginia.edu/content/uva-delays-person-instruction-move-undergraduates-two-weeks

VCU

Social Work

After researching job possibilities for an English Literature Ph.D, she decided to un-limit her choices when searching and dicovered she was drawn toward careers in counseling/therapy. She then decided to pursue a Masters in Social Work at VCU. She did two years of VCU's distance program and then completed the degree in-person.

https://blog.adobe.com/en/publish/2022/08/03/vcu-aims-become-university-future-by-partnering-with-adobe

Q: How do you keep track of each client's lives/stories?

“I don’t know really… I’ve just never really struggled with things like that. I think it’s just how my brain works, it's not helpful in most situations, but it is in my career. I also take notes in between each session.” -Angela Nemecek-Haag