SUSAN WHTE Licensed Clinical Social Worker

SUSAN WHITE

Licensed Clinical Social Worker

Hi, I’m Susan White, Licensed Clinical Social Worker at Foundations Family Therapy in Wake Forest. 

Finding your Strengths to Overcome

Have you lost sight of where you are going? Are you struggling to parent well? Are you finding yourself in the same patterns you swore you wouldn’t repeat? Do you feel you’ve lost your map? Do you feel disconnected from your family, your friends and yourself? Have you forgotten your strengths? Have you lost your courage?

Reaching out for help is a very brave and difficult thing to do. I believe that every client comes to therapy with not only challenges but gifts.  Very often in the struggle of life we can get lost and lose sight of where we are going. My passion as a therapist to help client's find their map. The one that they already created that may have gotten lost or dusty during life's difficult days. I love to help clients uncover and reconnect to the strengths that have been with them all along. I love to hold a mirror for clients and show them all the ways that they have already learned how to thrive  in life and help them regain that inner confidence to achieve their goals.  The person that is brave enough to reach out for help is the exact type of client I work best with.  

The struggle is real!

It is so easy to focus on what other people are doing to contribute to the hardships or unhappiness in life.  It's easy to say that you would be happy or better off it wasn't for so and so or such and such.  However, buying into that mentality means that you have given control of your happiness over to someone or something else. Understanding that change starts with you and that you have the ability to make even the smallest change which could be the start of more profound change is a powerful thing. Believe it or not, we have handed out instructions that teach other people how to treat us. It is up to us to write those instructions anyway we choose.  It is in the understanding that while we can't control others we can control our reactions.That is  where the magic begins. Sometimes we just have to get out of our own way!

Sometimes the struggles of life can knock the wind out of your sails.  For some of us, the struggle has just become a burden that we  carry with us in and out of every day- almost like a suitcase.  Some of us think that carrying this suitcase is just part of life. Yet it's  possible to unpack the suitcase and go through all the contents- examining what needs to be examined, throwing away what no longer is useful .   Even within struggle you can feel less burdened. 

So Who Am I?

I am first a wife and mother to 4 grown and almost grown children. I now have 3 grandchildren! I got my MSW from the Maryland School of Social Work and am a licensed school social worker as well as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker. I have spent many years in private practice and the school system. I have experience working in outpatient mental health, school based counseling,  substance abuse treatment and private practice.  My background includes work with children of all ages as well as couples and individuals. I work from a strengths perspective under the belief that clients come to us with many protective factors and strengths that once uncovered can assist them in working through life’s difficulties.  

The Fun Stuff

I love to spend time with my children and grandchildren! I also love to exercise and being outdoors. I love to run and bike. I have finished 4 Marathons, including the Boston Marathon in 2015! I believe that physical fitness is an essential part of mental wellness. 

I enjoy writing as well as reading inspiration and self help books.

Finding the best version of yourself is hard work.  Much like running a race, therapy can run the course of being exciting to mundane to painful to exhilarating. I fundamentally believe in every client's ability to meet challenges head on and become better because of it.  There is so much to be gained from doing the work of examining oneself to better understand how to live a full life where you can move from survival mode to thrive mode!  You're worth it!  I am in network with most major insurances and accept private pay.