Today we’d like to introduce you to Vivian Rodriguez.
Hi Vivian, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I was born and raised in Mexico City and moved to the United States at the age of 15. During my childhood, I had support from my family but not much guidance regarding what path to follow, especially in my career. Moving to the United States was a rough and exciting transition. It took me a while to acculturate and learn the language. During high school and college, I had the help of great academic counselors that guided me, and I decided that I wanted to become one so I can be that guidance for others.
In 2012, I started a master’s program at Cal State Fullerton as a Family and Marriage Therapist. My goal was to become an academic counselor, little did I know I fell in love with the career of Family and Marriage Therapist. Completing the program took me longer than most since I was working two part-time jobs and at times three to be able to manage finances. Once I started doing my internships, I had to go down to one part time job gladly I had a good-paying job as a student aid at Brea Olinda High School that helped me do that.
The Cal State program had a great counselor who encouraged me to apply to a stipend that supported me to pay off my school debt. The stipend required me to work with clients that had medical insurance (DMH), and even though it was stressful, I learned a lot and quickly completed my hours. During my time there and the internships I completed, I was able to gain experience with different populations such as court-mandated, children, teens and families, couples, groups, LGBT community, etc.
Today I work at the Avery Centre in Chino Hills, I have been there since 2019 which is a group practice that focuses mainly on trauma. At the Avery Centre, we see clients of different cultures, economic backgrounds, and mental health struggles. I also became the Clinical Director which allows me to be more supportive to other staff members and bring them together. My continuous drive to learn and improve are things that keep me motivated to keep doing the work I do with clients. Additionally, I try to help with posts on social media that provide information or can be a daily booster.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
The road has not been smooth, but it has been very rewarding. The main struggles I had to face were:
1) The language barrier: learning the language and feel comfortable communicating took me a while. Then in my master’s program learning the vocabulary and believing I was going to be able to do therapy in English was a big obstacle.
2) Finances: At the time I was in the master’s program, I was already on my own; there were months that I ate out of the dollar menu because I could not pay more. I went from being a slow eating to being able to finish a meal in less than 10 minutes since I was always running from one place to another. Even changing clothes in my car.
3) During the master’s program, I had to spend a lot of hours reviewing my papers because my grammar and writing was not up to their expectations. Many times I had to pay other classmates to review my work, and procrastinating was not an option for me due to all the revisions I needed to make in advance.
4) Family pressure: I am the first one in my family to complete a master’s program. My family saw me doing schoolwork most of the time, and some tried to encourage me to not pursue it. They felt I was wasting my best years.
5) Stress coming from a romantic relationship at that time.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I work in a group practice; my title here is Clinical Director, which allows me to train new therapists, guide them when having clinical or other questions as well as facilitate group supervision 1x/month. However, I mainly work as a mental health therapist working with individuals from 13 yo- 75 yo. I have several trainings, and one of my favorites is EMDR therapy because it is deeper and faster. It allows me to guide the client to introspect and identify barriers that block them as well as figure out a way to solve them. I am also known for working with clients in developing and improving their romantic relationships because during COVID, I created a coaching program of three months that allowed them to get awareness, break barriers, learn new techniques, and be able to apply them.
I work well with children and teenagers, however my preference is adult women on their 20s because they are more coachable and have more power about making their own decisions.
Today I am most proud of being able to genuinely care for my clients and being able to witness their progress. One thing that sets me apart from others is my initiative. I do not do the bare minimum and often strive for doing the right thing. I am also known for following through, in other words keeping my word so I am very reliable.
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
I think I would tell them, “This is your time to mess up, so try as many skills/techniques as you can.” One thing which I wish I knew when I was starting is the importance of learning about the impact on medication even If I was not going to prescribe it. I feel that knowing more about medication will be a great way to better guide my clients and myself.
Pricing:
- $170 Intake Assessment
- $150 following appointments
- We take Kaiser insurance
- We take IEHP insurance
Contact Info:
- Website: averycentre.com
- Instagram: thevivianrodriguez
Image Credits
Alejandra Esqueda
