JULIE'S STORY

Growing up I experienced traumatic medical issues involving my mother which ultimately required me to be shuffled around from after school programs, to the program director house some days, or home with friends until my mom could pick me up when she was done.  No one ever asked how I was doing with everything that was going on in my life, it was just an expectation that I would be “good” for my mom.  That has been one of the founding reasons that I became a therapist and work with children and teens.  So much happens in their lives that they have no control over and we as adults and society expect them to just adapt and be okay with everything, and then we wonder why they are acting out or having issues which results in punishments of those issues.  

In 2017 I had just moved back to Southern California from Houston TX when Hurricane Harvey hit my area.  And while I was not physically there when it hit, I was scheduled to fly as it was hitting the area, I had many friends, fellow therapists, and clients that were drastically impacted by the devastating effects of the Hurricane.  Schools were shut down for a year dealing with the aftermath causing students and families to become displaced at other schools to maintain their normal education.  I knew something needed to be done to address the impact where kids need it most and spend most of their time, directly at the school.  I looked back on my early therapist days as a school based therapist in Compton and Watts and what worked well, I looked at my private practice and how I could combine the two to meet the needs of the students and families directly at the school and Thrive was born.