Today we’d like to introduce you to Gabriella Patronella.
Hi Gabriella, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I understand this question is meant to ascertain information that refers to my career as a Licensed Professional Counselor. However, I cannot tell that story without going even further back to where my journey with mental health began in 2008 when I was 15 years old. At this point in my life, I had experienced more trauma than a child should have. This trauma led to symptoms of PTSD, depression, anxiety, and drug use as a means to escape my pain. Things only continued to get worse, despite tireless intervention by those responsible for my care, and eventually, my symptoms escalated to the desire to take my own life. My parents made a very difficult decision to send me to a wilderness treatment program followed by a residential treatment program. This decision quite literally saved my life, and I am eternally grateful for my parents’ bravery in getting me the help I desperately needed, the help that I was unwilling to accept before. I often tell clients that it is my job to see the sun through the storm when they can’t. I couldn’t see the sun or any hope of getting better. This led to continued resistance to treatment until a therapeutic activity in my wilderness treatment program called “solos.”
Solos were an activity in which I was supposed to camp by myself for three days in complete silence. The wilderness staff members would periodically check on us, but they would not speak to us to maintain silent reflection. In this silence, I started going on a downward spiral as this was the first time in a very long time that I was alone with myself and my own thoughts, no numbing with drugs or people to occupy my troubled mind. My grief, trauma, and hopelessness began swarming in my head. I wanted to die. As I was sitting there in the silence, the miles of forest surrounding me started to close in, threatening to disturb the reality I created for myself to protect me from the pain. I never felt more lost than I did in that sea of trees towering over me. It felt like this forest would be the end of me, but little did I know that in this forest, I would later find my path to peace. I panicked and aimlessly ran barefoot to a base camp for which I did not know the location, screaming for help. It was only then it dawned on me that I hated myself so much, and I was in so much pain that this simple silence in being alone was utterly unbearable. I found out later that I only lasted 15 minutes in that silence. It felt like life or death, and although in that moment I wanted to choose death, it was at this point that I made a decision that would change my life forever; I chose life. I wanted to heal and be happy no matter what it took. From that point on, I repeatedly chose life, no matter how hard it got, and I committed to my treatment.
I spent over a year in treatment, and I will tell you, it wasn’t an easy journey, nor was my journey in healing complete when I left treatment. I experienced more traumas after I left, and I often had moments of feeling defeated. I remember my mom telling me once that I would “get through it” and that I “always do.” I responded, “But mom, I’m tired of having to go through pain just to have to overcome it.” What I later had to accept was that pain is part of life, and our mission in life is to continue to rise and flourish in spite of it. The one constant throughout all of this was my continued commitment to my healing in therapy. Little did I realize that this pain would later serve a greater purpose leading me to my career in counseling as I became a wounded healer.
Many years later upon considering my career options, in 2012, I decided to major in Psychology to become a therapist, and it felt like I finally found the place I was meant to thrive in. I later began my graduate education in Clinical Mental Health Counseling in 2018 to pursue licensure as a Licensed Professional Counselor. In learning how to be a counselor, we are often asked to examine our own traumas and life experiences through the lens of whatever it was that we were learning. Graduate school forces introspection in a lot of ways, which ultimately leads to painful realizations and subsequent healing for students, including myself. Let’s just say it wasn’t uncommon to hear an assignment described as traumatizing. As therapists, we have to do our own work to be the best we can be for our clients and to honor our commitment to the principles of mental health counseling we promote. I continued to honor my past in my commitment to my own healing in therapy and my commitment to my career as a therapist.
After graduation, I was called to work in settings where I flourished previously in my therapeutic journey, thinking I would flourish just the same; Thus, I set out to work in residential treatment and to become trained in Equine Assisted Psychotherapy. Suddenly the tables had turned. These two experiences with my own past therapeutic treatment suddenly became my employment, but the tables being turned brought on more realizations about my mental health and past trauma. I could not help but feeling like a failure and a fraud as a therapist. I felt as though I was tainted or permanently damaged as a result of my trauma. I could not see my own growth clearly enough to separate my new self from my past self. The Body Keeps the Score beautifully describes this experience of trauma as follows, “Traumatized people become stuck, stopped in their growth because they can’t integrate new experiences into their lives…Being traumatized means continuing to organize your life as if the trauma were still going on, unchanged and immutable, as every new encounter or event is contaminated by the past.” My therapist at the time said to me, “Gabby, what are you waiting for?! If you keep saying I will be happy when this happens or I will be healed when that happens, you will never be happy or healed.” Two things became perfectly clear for me. Life is fluid, and it comes with both good and bad, and therapeutic healing is a journey without a destination or a finish line. We will always strive to reach our fullest potential, and therapy is a valuable vehicle to fulfill that ambition. I realized that it was time for a change. I needed to let go of my trauma and the ways I thought it defined me, to accept life’s fluidity of good and bad, and to honor my growth by building a new way of life based on the principles of healing being a journey. My licensing supervisor, Jamie Williams, played a major role in helping me realize this and offering me employment at her private practice, Prosperity Counseling Services.
In 2021, after leaving my job as an LPC-Associate and equine therapist at a residential treatment facility, I began working at Prosperity Counseling Services, and I began my supervision experience as an LPC-Associate with Jamie Williams. This change brought about so many other changes that I never thought I would experience, and I flourished. It seemed like everything in my life was falling into place, personally and professionally. At this point in my career, things came full circle for me as I attained full licensure as a Licensed Professional Counselor in 2022. I learned more about trauma from a clinical perspective through trainings and my experience with clients, especially in being trained in and practicing a trauma treatment called Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). Explaining EMDR is difficult to put into just a few words, especially because of the neurobiological processes involved, but simply put, therapists utilize bilateral stimulation in the form of eye movements to help clients reprocess traumatic experiences. In addition, this process helps change the negative core beliefs birthed by trauma that guide the way clients perceive their world. Participating in EMDR therapy for my own trauma as a client gave me a unique perspective in providing this treatment to my clients. In the future, I plan on utilizing my training in Equine Assisted Psychotherapy to treat trauma due to the amazing healing I have witnessed as a result of relationships clients form with horses. Through these learning experiences, it became clear to me that this was what I was meant to specialize in, and I honored my past in leading me to this specialization. Specializing in trauma was a way to utilize my past experiences to help my traumatized clients, honoring it while also affirming that it doesn’t rule my life anymore. I am honored to bear witness to my client’s healing and growth, holding space for them to be traumatized and broken while also revealing the sun behind the storm that my clients struggle to see. I am honored because I know just how hard all of that is having gone through it myself. I hope that my story helps inspire others to continue rising in spite of trauma holding them back because it is possible to make it out on the other side and flourish in ways they never thought they would.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
My story described before obviously cannot encompass all of the struggles I went through during that time period, and what I described is only a generalization of those struggles. Based on what I shared, you can certainly tell it has not been a smooth road. I always strive to be better because I truly value growth as a result of my therapy experiences. While this is a great value to have, naturally, this perspective has led to some feelings of imposter syndrome and feeling like it’s never good enough. My primary struggle after beginning my employment at Prosperity Counseling Services was a lack of trust and confidence in myself. I know I am not alone in this experience. Many counselors describe having similar struggles, and it has been amazing to receive such great support with this from all of the therapists at Prosperity Counseling. Slowly but surely, my self-compassion, trust, and confidence has increased through therapy and learning experiences. After everything I have been through, I know my aim will always be to continue to rise and reach my fullest potential by learning from these struggles.
My advice to those counselors who are just starting out would be to engage in introspection and their own personal growth. Mental Health Counseling is not just simply a service provided to clients. Being a therapist means valuing and believing in the principles of therapeutic growth and the power it has to change people’s lives. To me, introspection and growth isn’t a service provided. It is a perspective on life or a way of living, of which the primary aim is to reach our fullest potential by embracing that introspection and growth. We cannot encourage our clients to have this perspective and honor the courage it takes to do therapeutic work if we don’t experience it or value it for ourselves. Our profession is unique in that we can provide something to our clients that is very rarely received in their everyday life. We hold space for clients to be broken and to share their innermost selves with us. It is imperative to acknowledge the special honor it is to be that person for our clients.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a Licensed Professional Counselor at Prosperity Counseling Services, and we specialize in treating trauma. Although we specialize in trauma, we offer many different clinical interventions and a variety of unique therapists to individualize treatment and meet each client’s needs. I am grateful to work with such amazingly gifted and authentic therapists at Prosperity Counseling who truly honor the clients they serve. We share the same values of growth and learning to enhance our skills and reach our fullest potential for our clients. I think this is what truly sets us apart from others in the profession. I am most proud of Prosperity Counseling’s passion for helping our clients in their healing process and by providing a safe place for clients to find power in their vulnerability.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
My favorite childhood memory was going to Sicily, Italy with my parents and siblings to celebrate our heritage. Sicily is absolutely beautiful and rich in its history. I am very proud to be Sicilian and Italian culture has influenced the values that guide my life. I truly value family connection due to my Italian roots but also because of the incredible support my family provided to me over the years in getting me to where I am today. They have been the one constant source of support and encouragement throughout my life. I would not be as successful as I am today without the help of my family. I would like to use this opportunity to express my gratitude for my family and all that they have done for me. Grazie mille famiglia!! Ti amo tanto!
Pricing:
- Individual Therapy/EMDR – $150 per 50-minute session
- At Prosperity Counseling Services, we offer a range of session rates from $60 per session to $175 per session
Contact Info:
- Website: Prosperitycounseling.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prosperitycounseling/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/prosperitycounselingservices
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/JamieWi54368027
- Other: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/gabriella-patronella-katy-tx/1001263
Image Credits
Lanza Manage Photography
