Today we’d like to introduce you to Adrienne Skarin.
Hi Adrienne, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Being a counselor has always been in me. I remember even as a kid talking through issues with my friends, all the way from someone’s feelings hurt because they were left out of a game of hop-scotch, to a major high school heart break. As I got older and was hearing more intense issues from friends or other people, I recognized I still wanted to be there for someone through the tough stuff. While in graduate school at University of Missouri-Saint Louis for Clinical Mental Health Counseling, I learned so much more about the world outside of me, whether it be in my classes, talking to my peers, and in my first experience in the mental health field as a social worker. It was in my next job as a Mental Health counselor for women with co-occurring disorders (an addiction + another mental health illness) that I began to slowly develop my niche. I began to understand substance use disorders as people with traumas trying to self-medicate. Who of us doesn’t want to escape the bad and just feel good, even for a moment? I was able to empathize more deeply with others outside of myself, and my tiny worldview. It was in my next job experience that I found my niche. I love working with people to decrease overwhelming anxiety and stress responses to feel like their more authentic selves, and to help them have healthier, more fulfilling relationships. I do this by helping clients learn to regulate their emotions, providing EMDR (eye movement desensitization reprocessing) if they chose to, and learn about their attachment styles. The way we attach to our first caregivers, or other important relationships in our lives, are large predictors of how we view ourselves, the world, and relationships. I help people learn to process and heal from the past, to become their true self, which is where the name came from of the practice that I own- “Truly You, LLC”. I am the owner and solo therapist. I help people separate their stress response from their true personalities. Being a therapist is truly who I am, whether it is my job or not.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I’d say it’s been both smooth, and bumpy. The parts of the role that come naturally to me were smooth, and the parts that I had to learn and really challenge what I thought I knew felt bumpy. I had to become vulnerable in a way I never had before. Which, through my career I have really learned this is a strength- to be vulnerable. Challenging preconceived notions or judgements is one of the best parts of this job, because it has truly made me a better person overall. As a therapist, you have to see and work on your own issues if you want to be the best you can be for your clients. You wouldn’t go to a personal trainer who never worked out before, would you? (I stole this question from my own therapist, who is awesome!) Juggling becoming a therapist along with living life and building relationships made for some bumps as well. Through my graduate program I truly started to change as a person, resulting in change in how I view myself, humans and what I needed out of relationships. Simply having a career and now being a mother can create bumps, and overall, both roles have helped each other- being a mom has made me a better therapist, and being a therapist has made me a better mom, and spouse too.
We’ve been impressed with Truly You, LLC, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
I am a solo therapy practice owner of Truly You, LLC. I specialize in anxiety and trauma responses by helping people regulate emotions, learn about their attachment style, and understand what about them is a stress response and what is their personality. This has been an important part of my work. It’s the difference between being kind as a personality trait, and “people pleasing” as a stress response- both can seem “nice” to the people around you but feel very different to you. I help people understand the science of emotions, why we have them, need them, and what to do with them. So many people were not only misinformed about emotions but were actually taught to suppress them. I also take a very person-centered approach, and show up as my authentic self, and use this as a modeling tool for my clients. I model healthy boundaries while still being my authentic self in the room, because connection is vital to the therapeutic experience. My belief about therapy is that regardless of the clinician’s approach, the greatest tool in the room is the relationship itself. We are social beings and we can heal through relationships.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
I see myself continuing my therapy practice and offering more group education sessions, and probably creating a self-help tool. As much as I truly believe that if everyone went to therapy the world would be a better place, I don’t see that happening right now, despite the decrease in stigma around it. I also know everyone does not have the access to therapy the deserve. This is why I will always have sliding scale spots, maybe a pro-bono down the line, find ways to be an activist for better mental health access in general, and create an affordable self-help tool. I truly believe that if we got more mental health education and emotion regulation skills building in ALL school, the world would be a better place. I do see much more of this in schools now, and feel more hopeful for the generations to come.
Pricing:
- $160 per individual session, some sliding scale spots
- $50 for group sessions (offered intermittently)
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.trulyyoucounseling.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trulyyoucounseling/
