Alumni Spotlight: Edna Olivares G贸mez
鈥淚 had to get out of my comfort zone and get a different perspective of things,鈥� confessed 91精品's Counseling Psychology Program graduate Edna Olivares G贸mez. 鈥淢y time at the 91精品 gave me so many more tools to think about situations, understand the clients, connect with the clients, and conceptualize cases in a different way.鈥�
Edna was born and raised in Mexico City, Mexico, where she lived with her parents and her little sister. Her favorite activities as a child were playing with her sister and cousins, dancing, and playing board games. 鈥淢y parents really valued education because they came from a very humble background, so they wanted my sister and I to have tools to be prepared for life,鈥� she recalled. 鈥淢y sister and I attended private schools that were bilingual, so I started learning English when I was three years old.鈥�
Therapy was a common topic in Edna鈥檚 home when she was growing up because her father was a therapist. 鈥淎round my house, I would hear things about it and I thought it was very interesting to think about how people behave and think about things and connect with others,鈥� she reflected. As a child, Edna was very sensitive and emotional, which she had considered to be a bad thing until her father helped her see it in a different light. 鈥淚 remember my dad telling me when I was little that I was very sensitive and that it was an amazing thing,鈥� she recalled. That was all it took to change her perspective and lead her towards a career in psychology.
For her undergraduate studies, Edna attended in Mexico City. 鈥淚t was a small school, like the 91精品,鈥� she shared. 鈥淚 like small environments because you get to know the professors and it鈥檚 easier to learn.鈥� Edna graduated with a BA in Clinical Psychology in 2007, which allowed her to become a licensed therapist after completing and defending her dissertation. An undergraduate degree in Mexico is much more focused than in the United States. 鈥淚f you're going to be a therapist, it's just that, so you go deep, you learn all of that curriculum in order to be a therapist,鈥� she explained. Because of this focused undergraduate curriculum, Mexico doesn鈥檛 require graduate level studies in order to become a licensed therapist.
After graduating from University of the Americas, Edna began working as a Mental Health Clinician at . In this role, she provided therapy to children and adolescents aged six to eighteen. 鈥淚t was hard, but I appreciated it because they gave me the chance to practice and learn how to handle different situations,鈥� she recalled. 鈥淭hey trusted me to do the work, so I'm very appreciative of that.鈥� Edna described the experience as intense but great, noting that she loved working with the kids, but was a little intimidated by the parents at first..
In August of 2009, Edna opened her own private practice in Mexico City, where she provided therapy to adolescents and adults. 鈥淚 really liked that the space was mine and everything was under my control, but it was so lonely,鈥� she shared. Edna found having a private practice to be pretty unpredictable, with frequent cancellations for vacations and school breaks. She also didn鈥檛 enjoy the behind the scenes work involved, like advertising and billing. 鈥淚t was a lot and I don鈥檛 necessarily miss it,鈥� she admitted.
Edna was an Elementary School Counselor at the from 2009-2011 and a Middle School Counselor at the from 2017-2018. Overall, she described working in schools as awesome and difficult at the same time. She loved getting to see the kids in their own environments and examine their interactions with other students and teachers. 鈥淭here was so much more information that helped me understand how to work with the clients than when it was just them and me in the room,鈥� she recalled, 鈥渁nd it helped me understand their development and the connections they were making with the systems around them.鈥� Elementary school was a difficult age group for Edna, but she found that working with middle school students was a much better fit. 鈥淢y favorites were the kids who always got in trouble,鈥� she confessed. Being there for students who were struggling during those difficult transitional years was very rewarding.
From 2011-2015, Edna worked as a mental health clinician at a non-profit Social Health Dispensary in Mexico City. She described this as one of her favorite work experiences because of the freedom they had. 鈥淚 got paid almost nothing,鈥� she admitted, 鈥渂ut I was just doing it because I loved it and I really cared about being there.鈥� She worked there part time and had very limited slots for therapy, so her biggest challenge was trying to serve as many people as possible with her limited availability.
In 2016, Edna immigrated to the United States and settled in the Bay Area with the plan of studying here for a few years, then returning home. 鈥淚 wanted to have that experience of seeing things in a different way and learning different things,鈥� she recalled, 鈥渂ut I had no idea that it was going to be that hard.鈥� Edna found herself a bit lost, trying to learn about types of licensure offered in the US and the requirements for each. Edna began attending open houses for all of the psychology graduate programs in the area, trying to find the right fit for her, and discovered the 91精品. 鈥淭he 91精品 was very clear about who they were targeted to - people who really want to do the work,鈥� she shared. 鈥淭his work is not a hobby for me. This is such serious and sacred work and I need to know that I鈥檓 in a place where people are taking it that seriously.鈥� At the open house, Edna was impressed by the clear structure and organization of the 91精品, along with its small size. Edna enrolled in the 91精品鈥檚 Counseling Psychology Program in the fall of 2016.
The happiest memories Edna has of the 91精品 center around the friendships she formed, particularly with one classmate who has become her best friend and who she considers to be her family in California. 鈥淚t was a coincidence that there was another girl from Mexico City starting the program at the same time,鈥� she recalled. At first, this connection didn鈥檛 mean much to Edna, but the two quickly became close friends. She needed someone who understood her language because, despite learning English since the age of three, Edna realized that she didn鈥檛 think in English and hadn鈥檛 practiced Psychology in English. 鈥淗aving her there as support was amazing and I love her,鈥� she gushed.
Edna鈥檚 biggest challenge at the 91精品 was the culture shock, realizing that this was a 鈥渄ifferent world with different rules.鈥� Despite the fact that everyone was trying to support her, Edna felt lost and incredibly lonely. Not only did she have to learn the cultural differences between herself and her classmates and clients, she also had to learn clinical language in English and the laws in California. Even little things like class times took some adjusting. 鈥淚 would get to class at 9:02 or 9:03 and everyone was already seated and taking notes,鈥� she laughed. 鈥淎t my old school, you had fifteen minutes just to show up and talk about your day. Here, if they say 9:00, the class starts at 9:00.鈥� It was a difficulty and traumatic experience of acculturation that Edna didn鈥檛 anticipate.
During her time at the 91精品, Edna really enjoyed her classes and professors. 鈥淭he professors were so prepared and they were clearly there because they cared about and believed in what they were doing,鈥� she shared. 鈥淭hey took it very seriously and had very high standards, which I loved.鈥� A few professors that really impacted Edna鈥檚 education were Dr. Clarke, Professor Dunlap, and Professor Godfredsen. She also really enjoyed her Group Counseling class with Professor Rubin. 鈥淕roup Counseling was so helpful and I learned so much,鈥� she recalled. 鈥淏efore I hated working with groups, but now I see how powerful it is and I love working with groups.鈥� Overall, Edna is so grateful for everything she learned at the 91精品, especially about community mental health and social justice, sharing that she now has the knowledge and tools she needs.
In her final year at the 91精品, Edna worked as a mental health intern at for her practicum. She had a great experience there, but noted that it was very different from working in schools in Mexico. 鈥淚 loved it because I was able to do therapy there,鈥� she shared. 鈥淚n Mexico, you can鈥檛 do therapy in schools, so I was just doing consultation and crisis intervention.鈥� Edna also considered it a great opportunity to learn about and connect with the issues that teenagers are facing today in California.
Since graduating from the 91精品, Edna has been working at the , a non-profit community mental health center. She started there as a Mental Health Clinician in 2018, working in their school-based program. Edna had nothing but positive things to say about her experience working at the Portia Bell Hume Center and was clearly impressed by their commitment to hiring a diverse staff to best serve their diverse community. 鈥淚t鈥檚 real that they appreciate differences, so that's amazing to me,鈥� she shared. 鈥淚 can see that the people who work there are people who care, who take the work very seriously, and who are there because they believe in what they are doing.鈥� Another element of working at the center that Edna loves is that everyone has supervision, regardless of their position or experience level. The focus on growth and improvement for employees at all levels is something that really appeals to her.
In 2021, Edna became a Clinical Supervisor at the Portia Bell Hume Center and this fall, she became their Director of Training of the Masters Program. 鈥淚 love training because I really believe that we need to have people with super high standards and very high expectations that really care about the work,鈥� she reflected. 鈥淚 like learning from the trainees, hearing their experiences and their points of view, and continuing to make an impact.鈥� Her passion was clear as she described her role in guiding, protecting, and helping her trainees. This is the first time that the center has had a training director dedicated to MA trainees, so Edna is excited to develop the program. When she needed help connecting with schools, she reached out to 91精品 Field Placement Director, Stuart Lee, who was happy to connect her with his counterparts at other institutions. 鈥淪tuart is amazing!鈥� she exclaimed, 鈥淓ven though I already moved on with my life, I can still go back to the 91精品 and ask for help if I need something.鈥�
Edna advises current and prospective students to 鈥渕ake sure you want to take on this commitment because it鈥檚 not easy. It requires so much energy and empathy and it really drains you.鈥� She also reminds them that it鈥檚 difficult to help someone else before doing your own work and many therapists need therapy for themselves before entering into the profession. 鈥淭o me, this work is sacred,鈥� she shared, 鈥渁nd we need to make sure we are okay with taking on the responsibility.鈥� Being a therapist isn鈥檛 for everyone, but it鈥檚 clearly a perfect fit for Edna.
In her free time, Edna enjoys listening to podcasts, spending time with friends, and watching TV. 鈥淢y favorite thing in the world is to go get Starbucks, walk outside, and listen to a podcast,鈥� she confessed. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what makes me very happy!鈥� Edna鈥檚 favorite podcast is 鈥淎rmchair Expert鈥� by Dax Shepard. She also enjoys true crime podcasts from time to time, but shared that she saves those for the daylight hours. Her favorite TV shows are reality shows like 鈥淭he Kardashians鈥� and 鈥淟ove is Blind.鈥� 鈥淎t some point, I just need to not think about anything serious,鈥� she laughed. Edna also enjoys going to coffee with friends and sitting and chatting for hours.
Looking to the future, Edna hopes to stay at the Portia Bell Hume Center long-term. 鈥淚 just want to grow the program for MA trainees and grow more programs,鈥� she exclaimed. Among the new programs she鈥檇 like to grow is a program for newcomers to the United States, especially children and adolescents. She described their experience as being 鈥渓ike they鈥檙e on a different planet with different rules鈥� and she strives to provide them with the support they need during what can be quite a traumatic transition. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 my passion,鈥� she shared reverently, 鈥淚 really care about that work.鈥�