Outpatient Therapy with Maya
Ascend has spent years building a program for teens and their families that we can be proud of. In order to share some of the amazing work our team does, we provide you with a look behind the scenes when you follow along for a day with different staff members across a variety of facilities. This month, we’ll be featuring Maya, a Primary Therapist in the outpatient program at Culver. Keep reading to learn more about what she does for us and how her work enhances the experiences of teens in our programs.
What is Outpatient Mental Health Care?
While Ascend started out exclusively as a residential treatment program, we’ve expanded to include other levels of care, including outpatient and partial hospitalization. Outpatient care refers to treatment that doesn’t require admittance into a hospital setting. Teens can join us for a set amount of hours each day before returning home to their families in the evening.
Maya’s Work in Outpatient Treatment
We have two outpatient and partial hospitalization programs — one in Culver and one in Agoura. Maya works as a Primary Therapist in our Culver PHP/IOP program helping teens when they come in for the day. Her work is unique from Primary Therapists in residential treatment, as she spends less time overall with the teens in these programs. Because they go home at night or attend school during the day, there is less monitoring of their daily activities.
How Maya Got Her Start
Maya was always drawn to therapy, even as a child. She would watch her parents offer compassion and guidance to their parishioners at the Buddhist temple, where she was born and raised. Due to their impeccable example and her own internal curiosity about people, she decided that psychology and child development was the right career for her.
Maya has also experienced her own share of life’s challenges, and the incredible therapists who have guided her and her family inspire Maya’s work every day.
Why Maya Loves Ascend
Before coming to Ascend, Maya was in ABA therapy, helping children in elementary and high school. However, since joining our team, she has realized that outpatient treatment is where she belongs. Maya feels so fortunate to be doing this type of work and helping teens through the most challenging moments in their lives. As she witnesses their resilience and growth along the way, Maya is constantly reminded that people are capable of such positive emotional maturation.
Maya also loves working alongside such a kind, dedicated, and compassionate team. She realizes that we’re building a community together to benefit everyone around us. Maya believes that we’re doing such important work, taking care of each other with respect, dignity, and a lot of heart.
Why We Love Maya
Every person at Ascend plays a critical role in making our treatment programs effective, while ensuring teens and their families feel welcome. Even when she’s working one-on-one with someone, each person is still a vital piece of the larger puzzle that shapes and strengthens this community. We see Maya’s role as an active member in our programs and the community at large, contributing in any way she can to support and uplift the whole of our therapeutic family.
Maya offers such a thoughtful perspective to her coworkers, our clients, and their families and everyone leaves their time with her thinking deep thoughts about their role in the family ecosystem, society as a whole, and life in general.
A Day in Her Life
A day for Maya starts early and ends late, filled with family and purpose. As a single mom to two teens, mornings begin with getting them off to school before heading into Ascend to start the workday. She always take a quiet moment with her tea, and then greet everyone with a warm ‘good morning’ — a small ritual that grounds her and connects her to our community.
She’ll spend most of her day collaborating on client care with everyone from Amy, our Clinical Director, to the mentors who spend their day with the clients. Her evenings are just as full, back at home making dinner, helping with homework, and cherishing the little moments with her kids before the day winds down.
Learn More About Life at Ascend
Maya finds daily life at Ascend to be nurturing, inclusive, and inspiring. She takes heart from her own experience and strives to pass something similar on down to our clients and their families. Maya has seen the struggle that weighs down people in their darkest moments, but finds joy in witnessing and being a part of the quiet resilience they find with the help of others.
To learn more about the other beacons of light and life at the Ascend community, take some time to review our other staff spotlights. You’ll find so many caring people who live to nurture those that require a little extra support. Discover how they make a difference in so many lives here.
