Latavia S. Agada LCSW

One of my favorite movies is "While You Were Sleeping." Some would say that it is a cheesy rom-com, but to me, I saw a lonely, grieving woman trying to find a sense of belonging. She thought she knew what she wanted in one brother, but found exactly what she needed in the other brother. I remember her talking about her memories with her father and her longing to have a family with her again. Although she told a story to get closer to someone she was infatuated with, she had to come to some hard truths at the end. She had to fully admit these truths to herself and the family that she fell in love with. I chose this movie, because that is one kind of client out many that I have had the pleasure of meeting. I have learned over the years that people have underestimated the consequences of feeling lonely and others have been dismissive of people's around them need for belonging. As mentioned before, I thought I wanted to be a diplomat. I thought I would be able to help a lot of people in the world, but that can also be done in a therapy session. It is just one person at a time and that is meaningful.

• Illinois, Licensed Clinical Social Worker, 149.018494
• Texas, Licensed Clinical Social Worker, 109860
• Virginia, Licensed Clinical Social Worker, 0904015170
• Florida, Licensed Clinical Social Worker, TPSW3404

My undergraduate degrees were actually in sociology/anthropology and Russian. I originally thought I would be a diplomat of some sort to help everyone in the world, but I realized that I am more effective one-on-one. I had always been told, "You are a good listener. You should become a therapist." It didn't ring true until it finally rung true. Thereafter, I studied clinical social work for my graduate studies and focused on international social welfare. I continued my education focusing on trauma; hence, me becoming an EMDR therapist. My work experience has been quite diverse. I started out in community mental health. I loved the population that I worked with, but in terms of my own personal self-care, the workload was hard for me. Nevertheless, I was grateful to support people who were low-income, struggled with severe mental illness, anxiety, depression, trauma, etc. I was exposed to so many concerns and life stories and I knew that my clients just wanted to be heard. After that, I began exploring private practice. I still had the pleasure of working with a diverse population. Most importantly, I had the great opportunity to see people work hard to grow and challenge themselves to overcome adversities of all kinds.