Meet Ivy Whitfield

We recently connected with Ivy Whitfield and have shared our conversation below.

Ivy, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?

For most of my life I believed I wanted to be an elementary school teacher. This was my goal and direction throughout high school and the beginning of college. In my first year in college my drug and alcohol use turned into a full blown addiction which took over the next few years of my life. Needless to say school and goals went out the window. I had several severe consequences due to my addiction including medical, legal, emotional, and generally anything you can think of. I spent time in several different treatment centers and it was during one of these stays that I realized helping other people like me was what my true calling was. This idea became very heavy on my heart and I knew it was what I was supposed to be doing; I just had to get and stay sober. This still took me another year or so before I truly grasped recovery and began my journey towards my counseling license. I began working in the treatment field at a year sober and 21 years old. I have done almost any job you can in the substance abuse treatment field and worked at any level of care at this point. I obtained my LCDC (Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor) in 2013 and I have worked both in sort term and long term residential treatment. One thing I began to realize was missing was individualized follow up care especially for the chronic relapse clients like I was. I made the decision to go back to to school at the University of Texas at Arlington in 2022 to obtain my LMSW and I am currently still working towards this goal. Going back to school was a hard decision after being gone for so long but I knew I could help more people with better education. In 2023 I followed my heart and gut and went into private practice so that I could help those who needed that individualize aftercare after leaving treatment or in outpatient in general. This has been the best move and I cannot wait to see what is in store when my degree is finished.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I am a therapist who’s primary focus is drug and alcohol addiction. I feel a strong connection to this population due to being in recovery myself for the past 16 years. While I work with anyone 13 years or older I specialize in chronic relapse, young adults, the neurodivergent population, and antisocial personality. I work on a very individualized treatment plan based on client needs and regularly incorporate experiential therapy, brainspotting, and/or sandtray therapy. I also work with other addictions such as sex addiction and I am a CSAT (Certified Sex Addiction Therapist) candidate. Many times this issue arises after someone stops using substances so I began my journey to obtain my CSAT so that I could further help my clients.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Three of the most important qualities for me have been tenacity, honesty, and willingness. The willingness for me has been key especially when I had to be willing to go back to school after such a long period of time of being gone from it. That willingness has helped me be willing to be outside of my comfort zone and try new things and meet new people that helped change the course of my career and life. Honesty for me is a quality for life and work. Since I am in recovery honesty is something I cannot let go no matter what which has let my clients build confidence with me that I will be honest with them, and it has allowed me to build great relationships with other professionals because they also know that I will continue to be open and honest with them as well. Last tenacity, minus me just really loving this word, is key for life in general not just career. Life can be hard and I know this first hand I have put myself through many struggles. With tenacity I know that I can continue to push through anything that comes my way and still make it out and find a way to better myself through it., My best advice to those who are in their own journey whether that is in their career, their recovery journey, or their school journey is just to never give up. There is always a light at the end of the tunnel and that the sucky moments never last forever. There is beauty and a great pay off in the end and I’m not talking about financially.

What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?

Feeling overwhelmed is so easy for me to slip in to especially since I work at two separate places, go to school full time, have recovery commitments, and have a family including a 5 year old. When I begin to feel overwhelmed I have to stop and focus on one thing that is not work or school. I generally try to find time for friends, my family, or one of the things I know are relaxing for me. I enjoy reading books, baking, building legos, and a hand full of other things that I know calm me down. After those things I can reprioritize my to do list and start again. My biggest advice to anyone is to find a minimum of 3 things that are relaxing/calming for you. I say 3 because there will be some that are not always viable depending on where you are at. My other big piece of advice that saves me is having an actually written planner to have my schedule and to do list. When things are written in my phone it’s easy to forget, when I try to keep track in my head it’s easy to get overwhelmed, when it’s written down in front of me it seems more manageable.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://pecancounseling.com/