Getting to Know Trish: My Origin story

In this series, I'm turning the tables and answering the questions for a change. First up: how I got here.

What made you want to become a therapist in the first place?

After earning my bachelor's degree, I took a job at a hospital supporting kidney dialysis patients and their families. I worked alongside a fantastic social worker who became my mentor (shout out to Cheri W.!). When my youngest child started school, I went back to earn my master's degree. As I continued working with medical patients, I noticed how many of them with chronic illnesses had a significant history of trauma. So I set out to learn the most effective ways to treat it. That search eventually led me to Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART), and I knew I'd found something different: a way to help people heal without having to relive their pain over and over.

You spent years working in medical settings, hospices, and palliative care. What did that work teach you that still shapes how you practice today?

It taught me that two people with the same diagnosis or the same history can have completely different experiences. Each person's story is their own, so I don't make assumptions about how someone is coping or processing what they've been through. I also learned that no one lives in a bubble. Work, family, faith, and community all shape us in important ways. I bring that same curiosity into every session so I can understand what matters most to each person I work with.

Was there a moment or a client who changed how you think about healing?

I remember one ART session where a client's transformation was so significant it stopped me in my tracks. At the time, I worked somewhere I couldn't offer these sessions very often, and I remember thinking, "Why am I not doing this all the time?" That's the moment the idea for Daytona Accelerated Therapy was born. I believe therapy should bring relief as quickly as possible, without creating even more emotional pain along the way. That's what ART can do, and I feel privileged to do this work with my clients every day.

What would 2009-you, newly licensed, think of the clinician you are now?

Most people feel some imposter syndrome when they're new to a field, and I was no exception. I think 2009-me would be pretty impressed. She'd be surprised to learn she'd one day train therapists from around the world in ART, and happy to know she figured out how work in a way that fits her life. I'd tell her the learning never stops, and that's the best part.

Next up in Part 2: Why ART, and why I offer extended sessions and intensives instead of weekly therapy.

Trish Adams, LCSW, Florida License #SW9333. Master ART Practitioner and Certified ART Trainer. Phone 386-272-4492, trish@daytonaacceleratedtherapy.com. Focused healing, real results.