Today we’d like to introduce you to Amy Clark.
Hi Amy, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I received my Bachelor’s Degree in Criminal Justice from Marywood University in 2006. At the time I wanted to work with sexual offenders in the corrections system. I knew that offenders did not stay in jail forever and my hope was to be able to provide some sort of help to them that would lessen the chances of the reoffending. After completing an internship in a state prison, and realizing that there was very little opportunity to provide therapeutic healing within the system, I chose to work with trauma survivors instead. I continued my education and received a Master’s Degree, again from Marywood, in Social Work in 2009. During that time I completed an internship and then began to work at a Domestic Violence center providing counseling and advocacy for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. I also opened my own private practice where I treat individuals with a variety of mental health problems. Domestic violence and sexual assault remain concentrations of the work I do.
In 2009, when I opened my practice, it was just me in one room. It took years but I eventually got a clinical license and brought on another therapist. Today I have four therapists who work under me. We treat adolescents and adults for individual and marriage therapy. Most recently my daughter completed her education and joined the practice. It has been very fulfilling to watch her increase in her skills and benefit from something I have worked hard to create. One of the best parts about my work day is Henry. Henry is a 120 pound Great Pyranees who my family rescued about four years ago. Henry started coming to work with me and provides amazing emotional support to my clients. He was in an abusive situation before he came to my family. It is my belief that he has gained empathy from that. He is very good at recognizing when clients need him and silently providing them support.
In addition to therapy I also work in the community providing anger management classes and evaluations. I am blessed to be part of a Moving Beyond Depression program with a local agency called Healthy Family Partnership where a therapist is able to go into the home of pregnant women and new moms to address depression, including postpartum depression. I also provide supervision to pre-licensed therapists and intermittently adjunct at two separate colleges.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Definitely not a smooth road. I have been married for 33 years. We have one daughter who is now 29. When I was in under grad my husband, who was the main income in our home, became disabled. We were fortunate that he was able to get disability benefits, but the decrease in income was difficult. I decided to continue to grad school anyway, knowing that it would be better for our family in the long run. It definitely turned out to be the correct choice!
Another thing that made much of the time very difficult is my own struggle with BiPolar disorder. It is an illness I began suffering from around the age of 14 when I had my first major depressive episode. BiPolar is not always easy to diagnose and there was not nearly as much information about mental health when I was teenager as there is now. I continued to seek treatment all through my early adulthood but it was not until well into my 30s that I got an appropriate diagnosis and found medication that has stabalized my moods. I still have struggles here and there and need to stay on top of visits with my own therapist and doctors, but my BiPolar no longer runs my life like it did when I was younger. I am so proud that I keep going to get the help I needed and even more so that I get to help other people with similar problems today.
We’ve been impressed with Amy M. Clark, LCSW & Associates LLC, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
My business provides mental health therapy to adolescents and adults. There are five therapists, including myself. We are all either social workers or mental health counselors. What I believe I am known for, and what I always want to be known for, is providing quality services where we put our patients first. This is a business, and therefore we cannot work for free, but it is my goal to work with anyone, to the best of my ability, to make sure they receive the mental health therapy they need. If we cannot provide it here we will work to help individuals find someplace that can meet their needs.
Another thing I am very proud of is that I have been able to use my voice as a therapist to advocate for others. I recently joined the Northeast Pennsylvania Task Force agains Human Trafficking. It has been an eye opening and educational experience for me, but has also allowed me to provide education to a community that did not realize this kind of thing even happens where they live. (it happens everywhere!). And have been able to participate in a PA Hill Day where I went to the PA capitaI with a group from the task force and advocated with legislators about laws effecting human trafficking. I love providing education programs and have been able to provide community education on domestic violence, compassion fatigue, and parenting.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
I took dance lessons throughout my childhood and then taught until I was in my 30s. I even briefly owned my own dance studio. Being in the dance studio and having my family and friends come watch performances are memories I will always love.
My favorite childhood memory is from when I was 17 – still technically a child. That is when I met the man who is now my husband of 33 years!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://amyclarkcounseling.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/amyclarkcounseling/
