Brooke Rawls  LMFT

I was always motivated to find a career that would allow me to help others. My passion for supporting people began when I started tutoring special needs high school students as a high school student myself. I found this work to be incredibly rewarding, as I saw the students I worked with grow in their social and academic skills overtime. I also found a lot of self-healing through this work because it gave me something else to focus on while managing my abusive home-life environment. Following my volunteer work, I quickly set out to gain more experience helping children by working as an aide at afterschool day care centers and local elementary schools. I also got exposure providing mental health support in hospital settings for individuals of all ages while I was obtaining my BA in Psychology. As I acquired more hands-on helping experience and took classes through my minor in applied psychology, I became increasingly interested in the path to becoming a therapist. This profession appealed to me because it allowed me to continue providing a healing space to those in need and give back to younger generations as well as their families who need a resourceful outlet.

I would describe my personality as warm, bubbly, honest, and silly. These characteristics influence my approach to therapy, as I strongly believe in the power of humanizing yourself as a therapist. When we humanize ourselves, we are more likely to foster connection with others. The therapist-client rapport is more important than any tool I can offer my clients. Thus, I try to show my personality in sessions by normalizing feelings, highlighting client strengths, practicing humor (after all, laughter is the best medicine!), and empathically confronting challenging thoughts/feelings/behaviors.

While prioritizing the building trust and rapport, I seek to help my clientele better understand the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that are keeping them stuck and preventing them from reaching their goals. My demeanor in therapy is collaborative, interactive, and warm. Therapy can be a vulnerable space to enter and I am here to cheer you on along the way. I understand that therapy is not a “one size fit’s all” model. Thus, I make sure to alter my approach according to the unique needs of my clientele while remaining sensitive to their personal stories. Throughout my work with clients, I often call on my strong foundation in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and training in exposure and response prevention (ERP), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), mindfulness, play therapy, and supportive parenting for anxious childhood emotions (SPACE).

• California, Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, 124192

I have over 10 years of experience supporting children, adolescents, young adults, and parents in a variety of settings such as pre and post adoption services, alcohol and drug services, community mental health services, schools, and outpatient mental health services. While working in pre and post adoption services, I supported biological families as well as foster families in re-building healthy attachment with their children and teens. I also helped to inform these families of how trauma symptoms can present through mood outbursts and how to promote self-soothing skills. I later went on to help run an alcohol and drug treatment center that focused on helping young adults gain sobriety and access to tools for restarting their life. In addition to this, I have provided social skills groups onsite at local community mental health centers as well as schools (elementary to high school) in order to promote confidence around new social settings and interacting with peers. Prior to launching Light Minds Therapy, I was part of a group private practice that provided CBT services to children, adolescents, young adults, and families. Much of my work consisted working with children and adolescents around anxiety, social skills, and OCD tendencies. I also provided support to parents around language and tools that can be used to help their child overcome and manage their mental health symptoms.