Rose H: Bringing her ‘full heart to every session
Rose Hellat first joined Walk-In Counseling Center as an intern while pursuing her Master of Social Work degree at St. Mary’s University. Although therapy was a new area for her, Rose said she knew after her first counseling session that she had found the work she wanted to do.
“I had heard about Walk-In quite a bit in my younger days. I never utilized it, but applied for it when I saw it as an option for interning in my program.”
“I remember my first session. It was a Monday night during COVID. When I left that session, I was like, ‘I don’t want to do anything else.’ It was so clear to me that this was what I was meant to do.”
Rose’s passion for helping others began much earlier. Growing up, she was closely involved in the life of her aunt, Eva, who had had a traumatic brain injury as an infant.
“I grew up watching Eva enter and leave institutions. My mom didn’t shield me from anything that was going on. I went to all my aunt’s meetings and involved myself.”
“My mom always said, ‘Eva is capable.’ It was our motto growing up.”
As a teenager, Rose often babysat children with disabilities and found herself naturally drawn toward helping others.
“I’ve always had a heart for people with disabilities, or people who needed a leg up, needed a hand.”
Today, Rose brings that same commitment into her counseling work.
“Every session I enter, I take seriously and take with a full heart. I recognize that every person is not always going to be my cup of tea, and vice versa, but how do I get people to that next point?”
Rose now has her LICSW counseling license, runs her own practice with partner Cindy Knoell, and is a community partner to Walk-In. Walk-In is unique, she says, because the counselors “genuinely want change for the person who comes in needing something. Walk-In is a place where everyone is so exceptional and kind and wants to help people bridge that gap.”
She also shared what she appreciates most about the Walk-In Counseling model — where counselors see anyone who comes in, free of charge.
“Walk-In kind of evens the playing field, because you get who you get and you just make it work.”
“You have to put any differences aside to focus on that one person and their needs, and that’s something I really appreciated, especially during COVID. There was no talk about right or wrong. It was, ‘Who is this person in front of me, and how do I help them?’”
For Rose, helping people remains the common thread throughout her career. “I’ve done so many things in life, including social work. It’s helping people. No matter what direction you go, you can still enter.”
– Article written by Dehkontee Jayee