Asia Wait LSWAIC

I work primarily with pre-teens & teens - I find I'm able to relate to them in a way where pre-/teens feel heard & understood, motivated to take control of what they can in sustainable ways, and optimistic about their futures. I have worked with kids & teens in many different capacities, including as a school social worker providing IEP services & mental health support to students, and as a mental health crisis responder working to divert from psychiatric hospitalization.

I've received extensive training in working with suicidality & mental health crises, and work to support my clients safety in ways that do not limit their rights or police their symptoms. Suicidal thoughts are incredibly common, and make sense as a response when chronically exposed to stress, oppression, and dangerous situations. I work with clients to normalize these thoughts and increase the coping resources they have available to them so that suicide doesn't feel like the only or best option.

ADHD is a professional & personal interest of mine. I've begun specialized ADHD training & was diagnosed myself just last year. School social work & crisis work have shown me how connected neurodivergence & mental illness are in our society, and how important it is for neurodivergent young people to interact with neurodivergent adults who understand how their processing differences impact their mental & physical well-being.

I believe my job is to adjust to my clients needs as they share them with me & meet them where they're at, which means adjusting my approach. I don't follow any structured treatment programs, but I have completed trainings in many different modalities & incorporate them into my work with clients as appropriate. I ground my work in existential & humanistic theories, pull from dialectical behavioral therapy, and incorporate spirituality, special interests, and art to support my clients' needs.

Every therapeutic space I've worked in has involved training & active work in harm reduction, and I will always prioritize it when working with my clients who are learning new coping skills. Forcing immediate behavior change doesn't produce sustainable results - people need alternative coping options available to them before they can be expected to stop a riskier one. I don't endorse the removal of coping skills as punishment, but instead do extensive safety planning to reduce the risk of harm.

I've completed skills & certification trainings in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy. I don't provide structured DBT work, but I often use DBT skills in my work with clients. The practical skills taught through DBT can work for everyone because they normalize & validate our responses while reducing the reinforcement of responses that aren't working anymore. I think motivation for sustainable change comes from understanding our experiences and feeling optimistic about the future & our own capacities