Emily J: ‘Counseling isn’t meant to be done in isolation’

Emily J. grew up in a rural Wisconsin town that had no mental health services at all. Now a marriage and family therapist, Emily is committed to making mental health services more available everywhere.

To that end, Emily’s practice, Northlight Mental Health, has partnered with Walk-In to help train new practitioners through a new internship model that provides trainees with experiences in a small private practice setting and at the Walk-In Center. “We are thrilled to partner with Walk-In. Our shared values of increasing access to quality mental health care and supporting clinicians in the development of sustainable practices created a natural fit. Our shared interns get a wide range of training experiences and extra supervision support, and we are excited for how our partnership will continue to develop and grow.”

Emily herself was a Walk-In volunteer during her doctoral studies before the pandemic. At that time, she provided supervision for clinical interns. “Walk-In provides a really cool learning experience. The wrap-around support and community that the clinical teams create is amazing.”

During in-person clinics, Emily recalls that practitioners could ask for a consultation with a colleague during a session or whenever they needed it. “This work isn’t meant to be done in isolation,” she says. Now that services are also online, the same applies. “There is always the debrief and clinical consultation time.”

Emily is excited about how Walk-In’s addition of online services makes mental health more accessible in rural areas, a population that Emily and members of her clinic specialize in serving. She also highlighted other strategies for reducing barriers, including building partnerships with trusted local organizations and being intentional and mindful about the language used to describe mental health concerns.

For example, “depression” might not be a term normally used to describe what a person is actually experiencing, Emily says. “They might say they are more tired, or less interested in the things they used to be interested in.”

Walk-In’s long history and commitment to access made it a natural partner for Emily’s practice, which helps train practitioners and shows them how to work in an insurance-based environment, an important way the practice remains committed to increasing access.

“Community support for clinicians is the secret sauce that makes Walk-In such a great experience. People are getting better care because the practitioners are so well supported and it’s an honor to partner with that mission!”