Education Takes Sacramento Resident From Artist To Therapist
The EDD provides job growth projections for the El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento and Yolo region from 2012 through 2022, and occupations in mental health services are increasingly visible. The largest growth for those with master's degrees is expected to be in school, vocational and education counseling positions; clinical and school psychologists are in the expected top five careers for people with doctoral or professional degrees.
Recent Sacramento openings on Indeed.com include master's-level positions such as mental health counselor, substance abuse prevention coordinator, behavior interventionist, social services director, school psychologist, licensed psychiatric technician, and family facilitator.
Stephanie Iott is a licensed marriage and family therapist in Sacramento, but her original career goal was somewhat different. A talented artist, Iott said her high school art teacher encouraged her to go to college. While earning her bachelor's degree in graphic design, Iott realized she "loved the art part but not the business part," and headed in a different direction after graduation.
Iott was outpatient manager for a children's mental health program for six years, and became a massage therapist as well due to her interest in mind-body connections. While volunteering for the California Youth Crisis Line, her interaction with one particular teenager made her realize she needed to learn more in order to help more.
Iott went on to get her master's degree in somatic psychology, a field that combines traditional therapy with a highly personalized and experiential holistic approach. According to Iott, being a certified massage therapist is among the prerequisites for this unique and challenging master's program.
Somatic therapy goals can include addressing an individual's physical and emotional responses to specific circumstances and issues like chronic mental illness, eating disorders, depression and anxiety. Iott offers counseling for patients wanting to deal with relationships, parenting, grief, phase-of life changes, divorce and other situations.
Somatic therapists must take 36 units of additional schooling every two years, and Iott knows the continuing education is valuable. She also notes that before receiving their master's degree, each students had to have 50 therapy sessions themselves, "in order to experience it from both sides of the couch."
Valerie Heimerich is a freelance writer out of Sacramento. She typically covers animals and community issues. She has volunteered and worked for many organizations helping animals and people. Her work can be found at Examiner.com.
