A large part of what makes the Golden Thread community so special is the diversity of voices and perspectives from our readers. This month, we’re featuring Amy Dilworth, MS, LPC, MHSP.  Amy has a Bachelor of Science degree in Dance Education as well as a Master of Science degree in Community Agency Counseling, both from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK). While completing her training at a domestic violence shelter, she began a career focused on trauma and specifically on intimate partner violence (IPV). Since then, she has worked in non-profits addressing sexual abuse of children. 

She was previously the clinical director for therapeutic foster care, and an investigator for the TN Protection and Advocacy program focused on investigating complaints from people with mental illness in institutional settings. She then spent over a decade as the Executive Director of the Knoxville Family Justice Center (FJC). There, she led the coordination of law enforcement, prosecution, civil legal, non-profit social service, courts, child protective services, and counseling and clinical psychology internships, among others. Amy retired from the Knoxville FJC in 2020, and opened her dream practice, Trauma Wellness Center 2022. Take a look at our full interview below.

What’s something that people might be surprised to learn about you?

That my Bachelor's of Science is in Dance Education.

Can you share your journey to becoming a therapist? What drew you to the profession?

I was in the musical Grease and a fellow actor was a Music Therapist.  I asked her about it and decided to pursue Dance Therapy.  As I took some pre-requisites I realized I wanted to be a therapist.  I always say my passion for dance led me to my calling as a therapist.

If you could offer one piece of wisdom to newer therapists, what would it be?

Personally I find that variety of my jobs in my career have given me a better perspective and have assisted in avoiding burnout.

Do you have a daily ritual or habit that grounds you before seeing clients or between sessions?

Definitely deep breathing between sessions helps me move to the next client and be present with them.  I imagine the body tension my body may be holding from the prior session is flowing out of me with the exhales.

I find that variety of my jobs in my career have given me a better perspective and have assisted in avoiding burnout.

‍

What’s one underrated or overlooked therapeutic skill you think more clinicians should focus on?

I think all clinicians should look at their clients through a trauma lens before diagnosing GAD or Major Depression.  I find they typically are having anxiety and/or depressed mood as symptoms of the trauma.

What do you do to take care of your own mental and emotional well-being?

First and foremost for me are my cat Samson and my dog, Lilah.  Second is finding creative outlets for myself.  Finally, picking some close friends who have similar experiences in life and who have or do work in similar aspects of trauma as I do.  My best friend and I understand one another in ways no one else does because of these similarities.  That is very comforting.

How do you set boundaries around your time, especially with client communication or documentation?

It was harder earlier in my career.  I have put boundaries in our informed consent regarding expectations around response time for (HIPAA compliant) emails or texts.  I also include emergency numbers for most issues that my clients can have in the informed consent and made a sticker for backs of cell phones with those numbers.  I finish my notes every day before I go to bed, typically any remaining notes are done while my dinner cooks.

Deep breathing between sessions helps me move to the next client and be present with them.

‍

How do you maintain a sense of meaning and motivation in your work over time?

Wow, that is in large part to working so many years in Violence Against Women issues, personal experiences, and the variety of jobs I have had.  I have worked for non-profits most of my career as an outpatient therapist, clinical director, investigator and executive director of a collaborative agency including law enforcement, prosecution, civil legal, child protection, and non-profit social workers.  As I realized I was ready to retire from that, I was led to start my journey into private/group practice which was 5 years ago.  Each step of my career has been what I was meant to do at that time.  I would have burned out long ago doing only private practice all these years and I certainly would not have been nearly as good at it as I am now with all the other experiences.

Anything else you’d like to share?

I think it is important if you work in trauma to get good exposure to how to assess for danger/risk for clients who can be harmed by other people.  And to learn how to help them safety plan, including emotional safety planning.