You Are Already Enough

Counseling alumna uses empathy and art to help her clients find value outside of their appearance and achievements.

在二月一个多云的早晨，她在色彩鲜艳的客厅里通过Zoom聊天, 瑞秋(菲利普斯):11岁的丹尼, M.A. ’16, radiates warmth and kindness, assuring you that you are heard and your words are valid.

你应该被真正的你所看到和了解.
你本来的样子就已经足够了.
你不需要证明你的价值.
Regardless of what you have been through, you are worthy of living a life that matters to you.

These statements, 都是在Tenny的网站上找到的, 这些重要的教训是不是她不仅希望灌输给自己的女儿, 但也与她的客户, and with all who are reading this article who find themselves questioning their worthiness — because you are enough.

Meet Rachel

起初，坦妮从未听说过勒努瓦-雷恩, 但经过一番研究，她发现这所大学提供艺术治疗课程.

“整个高中和我在弗吉尼亚大学的第一年, 我对心理健康和艺术很感兴趣,Tenny说，她于2009年以大二转校生的身份来到勒努瓦-雷恩. “我从未见过像劳氏艺术治疗这样的本科项目, 我发现它最适合我的技能和兴趣.”

During her time at LR, 坦妮加入了一个姐妹会，沉浸在社交活动中, 慈善及学术活动. 此外，她还遇到了她未来的丈夫，13岁的布拉德利·坦尼.

“Some of my best memories come from my higher-level psychology and studio art classes and getting a glimpse into what working in the field of mental health could look like through practicum placements. 他们真的为我所做的一切做好了准备，以推动我的职业发展. Being able to be in smaller sized classes and have closer relationships with professors helped me to both understand myself and get a sense for what life outside of college would look like," said Tenny, 谁在2011年获得心理学和艺术治疗学士学位. “I also was able to engage in my own personal therapy through the LR counseling center, 在那段时间里，什么对我来说是无价的.”

Post-graduation, she worked as a recruiter in Hickory until Bradley also graduated from LR in 2013. The pair got married and moved to South Carolina for Bradley to pursue his MSN at the University of South Carolina.

“At that point, 我当时还在招聘和人力资源部工作, 虽然我喜欢这份工作的某些方面, 它并不像我希望的那样具有挑战性或令人满意,” shared Tenny. “I decided to research counseling programs and saw LR was going to start offering courses in Columbia later that fall -— so I applied on a whim and was part of the first counseling cohort. 回到劳氏攻读另一个学位，感觉几乎是偶然的.”

Her interactions with LR counseling staff stick out in Tenny’s mind during both her undergrad and graduate years as being positive trajectories.

“My own counseling journey through the counseling services offered at LR was so valuable to me. I was fortunate enough to have the same therapist in undergrad and grad school,” said Tenny. “在治疗过程中，她为我创造了一个温馨而安全的环境, 直到今天，我仍然心存感激, 也是我现在在工作中努力效仿的.”

After graduating from LR a second time in 2016 with her master’s in clinical mental health counseling, Tenny worked at a residential eating disorder treatment facility in Columbia until moving to Charlotte, North Carolina. 她于2019年转为私人执业.

Humanness

Now based in Charlotte, Tenny is a licensed clinical mental health counselor supervisor (LCMHCS) and therapist whose areas of expertise include eating disorders, 复杂创伤和分离性障碍, 以及围产期心理健康.

She approaches the therapeutic relationship with her clients as a partner: helping them understand their barriers, heal trauma, 并通过身体干预在自己的身体中找到安全.

“One of the biggest strengths I bring to my client is my relatability and humanness,” she shared. “I spent many years of my own life believing I needed to exist in a certain way in order to have a meaningful life. I want to help others find an existence outside of the constant striving for ‘enough-ness.’”

根据Tenny的说法，“足够好”是指足够好, 是她在客户身上看到的更大主题的一部分吗.

“认为自己不够优秀会让全球网赌十大网站觉得自己没有价值, 可爱或有价值，除非全球网赌十大网站以某种方式表现出来. 事实是，全球网赌十大网站越努力去赢得爱, validation and approval, 全球网赌十大网站就越难以接受自己. 全球网赌十大网站并不是生来就觉得自己不够或不够. We learn that over time. Or we learn to make ourselves smaller because we’re ‘too much' and are often contorting to fit an impossible mold.”

Tenny使有关心理健康的对话正常化, 支持她的客户，以尊重他们的人性，而不是羞辱或羞耻的方式. 当她不接待客户时，她致力于帮助教育其他人有关心理健康的知识.

“在过去的10到15年里，全球网赌十大网站谈论心理健康的方式发生了变化, and I am working hard to make sure that other people connect with resources that will help support them in understanding themselves more,” she shared.    

Blending her passion for making resources more accessible with her love of creating art, 坦妮设计了她自己的宣言, workbooks, worksheets, 期刊和迷你课程. “我想找出让艺术有意义的方法. 如果你曾经接受过治疗，看过治疗工作表, 有很多黑白复印件, 而且它们并不有趣. 我想，‘如果我创造出人们真正会使用的工作簿和工作表呢?'"

So, she did, by offering vibrant, illustrated workbooks and worksheets that make healing resources engaging and accessible, 即使是那些不能参加治疗的人.

“我一直在创造. 我的大脑想把更复杂的事情分解得简单易懂. 这才是真正帮助人们学习和实现改变的东西.”

她继续为自己和她的实践创造材料, 她也在为其他治疗师和咨询师拓展资源.    

“我正在为其他心理健康提供者制作更多的短视频和课程. 教学是我的爱好, 我喜欢用一种有关系的方式来做，让人们说‘哦, yeah, 我以前从来没有这样想过.’ Or, ‘Oh, yeah, seeing how my brain is processing information based on my trauma — that makes more sense than you just telling me.’”

她监督并为其他治疗师提供咨询, including being a clinical supervisor for a current LR counseling student this semester.     

Existing as You Are

With a passion for working with individuals to establish a healthy relationship with their bodies, Tenny also prides herself on empowering young girls and women to find value and worth outside of their appearance.     

“I am fortunate enough to have two daughters, which terrified me at first to be really honest. 作为人类，全球网赌十大网站得到了很多全球赌博十大网站需要如何向世界展示的信息. But specifically, as women, we get inundated about how we need to present ourselves and to take up less space in the world because it makes others uncomfortable.

“My goal is to remind women, specifically, that they can exist in whatever way they want to. 他们可以占据空间，有大胆的观点. I want to show my daughters and anyone else that they deserve to live a life that feels meaningful to them. 他们不需要遵循别人为他们制定的计划. 他们可以挑选自己喜欢的东西. Part of developing positive self-esteem comes from developing a healthy relationship with themselves from the very beginning.”

作为一个四岁女儿和十一个月女儿的母亲, Tenny works hard to ensure she is helping them have a strong sense of self from an early age.

“My youngest isn’t quite aware yet — but I am constantly talking with my older daughter about what she does well, 和她一起识别和表达她的情绪, 每天和她一起做肯定. So many of my clients talk about how their experiences as children shaped their trajectory with their mental health, 我对自己的女儿也很了解,” shared Tenny. “I am far from perfect, but I want them to know it's okay to be passionate about things. 古怪和与众不同没什么大不了的. 做真实的自己没关系. 这里有全球网赌十大网站所有人的空间.”