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| September 2010 |
| Billie Silvey |
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| An Interview with Jenny Ricker, MFT |
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| Jenny Ricker has a master’s in family therapy. She and her husband Fred, an elder at the Culver Palms Church of Christ, have two children, Kelsey and Collin. A good friend, she volunteered to meet with our job training students when they began to indicate problems with self-image and abuse. The following interview draws on Jenny's 20 years of experience as a therapist. |
| 1. What kind of training did you have, and where did you go to school? intern, etc.? I got my BA at Pepperdine University and my masters at Cal State Northridge. I interned with the Life Transition Program at Brotman Medical Center; the therapeutic pre-school at Julia Ann Singer Center; as a Children's Service Worker with the Department of Children's Services; and with the Pepperdine University Student Counseling Center. |
| 2. Where and in what contexts have you practiced?
I was hired by the Pepperdine University Student Counseling Center before going into private practice with Velasco and Associates. 3. What areas of counseling are most interesting to you? I am interested in Grief/Bereavement counseling, women’s issues, marital therapy and parenting. 4. What areas present the most challenges? I found it a challenge to work with a client’s denial issues. Often marital couples come into counseling wanting to change their partner. It can be difficult to look at your own issues contributing to the problems in the marriage. Therapy needs to feel safe before clients are willing to look at their vulnerabilities. It was a personal challenge to work part-time after my children were born. Balancing work and family is a challenge most working mothers face. 5. Have you seen any changes in your counseling as a result of having a family? Maturing? Being married and having children gives you insight and maturity as a therapist. I found myself more appreciative of my husband after working with so many unhappy relationships. As a therapist teaches couples better ways to communicate and handle conflict, the challenge is to go home and “practice what you preach.” Therapy made me more aware of my own issues and areas I need to work on in my marriage and in parenting my children. 6. How has your Christianity informed your counseling? What problems, if any, does it present? My personal beliefs and faith were not shared with my clients. I did pray for my clients and for my ability to help them, but I never let them know. Keeping ethical boundaries with clients is very important. MFT’s are required to take continuing education courses in order to keep our license in good standing. A Law and Ethics course is required every two years. 7. What other aspects of your experience do you feel might interest the readers? How can counseling benefit the average person? We are all in many relationships; some are healthy and some are not. Life stressors are inevitable. We all face issues with death and loss. I believe most people benefit from having a safe place to go and address the challenges of life. |