Grace Woods

Seattle University

MACFT Personal Statement

January 2023

I was one of many who returned to higher education in 2020 after the onset of the pandemic. In 2008, I was enrolled at Western Washington University after high school. Though I truly loved (and over committed to) higher education, I fell into a fast and furious burn-out following 18 years of tumultuous life experiences. Every tribulation has brought me closer to understanding how I may be of service in the world. With much resolve at 31, I re-enrolled as an undergraduate and declared psychology as my major, which I now complete with honors. I have been directly working towards licensing in counseling, certain of my intentions to support those interested in growing their toolbox of awareness, resilience, and compassion. 

I’m no stranger to hard, dedicated work. At 20 years-old and with four quarters of student loans to pay off, I guided ecotourism trips in Alaska. Between guiding seasons, I farmed and learned the process and ethics of animal husbandry. I effectively juggled three or more jobs to make my way and stave off my isolation from family. I bartended, waited tables, washed dishes, nannied, tutored, cleaned houses, guided backcountry trips, landscaped, worked in customer service, and taught environmental education. With the support of my community and work relationships, I raised myself into a capable young adult, striving for belonging, purpose, and to be of service.

Being of service is foundational to my sense of purpose in the world. While I’ve had less time and financial stability to participate in volunteering than I desire, I’ve done what I can to stack functions of my survival needs with community participation. This has included volunteering weekly at a food bank, working in community gardens, and apprenticing with an herbalist on her service projects. As a certified Wilderness First Responder, I have supported civil protests as a medic, such as the Standing Rock No DAPL movement, Women’s Marches, and at Seattle Black Lives Matter protests. Service work is about emphasizing the reciprocity within relationships at a community level; my role as an active community member has shaped my intentions in pursuing therapy work. I know Seattle University has a high regard for meaningful community engagement and development, which is why it is my first-choice school for my MACFT. 

I am a very adept wildlife naturalist, who is passionately driven toward diverse relationships by the tug of solastalgia and my vast love of the natural world. In the vein of these relationships, I believe ethical environmental justice movements reciprocally inform social justice efforts, and by direct extension, therapy work. When I was 23, I found my way to a year-long naturalist and “survival skills” program, where I took courses such as wildlife tracking and ornithology. I volunteered and worked in various positions for the organization for years, including instructing youth and adult programs centered on nature connection. This organization assisted me in revealing my deeper credo, as well as aided me in regulating a very worn-out nervous system, sparking my strong interest in ecopsychology. From this pursuit, I came to an idea that all fields of psychology may eventually envelope a recognition of our ability to co-regulate with natural world phenomena, adding to the language of our interdependent nature. 

The natural, biological world is ever moving toward diversity, a valuable lesson for human society. While at this nature connection organization, I pushed the conversations further on what it means to consider whiteness, especially co-opting and profiting from North American Indigenous practices. I hope to continue pursuing my passion for intersectional conversations in a counseling practice. The crosshairs of social justice, environmental justice, and therapy are as clear as day to me, and I intend to further my education and experience in therapy work to contribute to this powerful, cooperative conversation with patience and compassion. My experiences in guiding these complex conversations have been a deep well of learning, including learning how to see and hold people exactly where they are. I have learned some antidotes to harm and suffering are self-awareness, patience, and showing up. These, I believe, are well translated skills in counseling and therapy. 

My inherent need to think progressively and with diverse influences is fulfilled with my minor in Human Rights. One course, “US Foreign Policy in Human Rights”, began with a week in Washington DC, researching, speaking with, and questioning lobbyists and legislature on human rights issues. This experience demanded I work hard to see the world from diverse perspectives as well as needs. My final research thesis was on federal environmental policies and Indigenous sovereignty. My chosen issue related to my belief that a healthy environment needs healthy people to be in relationship with it, and vice-versa. To this end, we must address our complete health and the integrity of our personal relationships to restore well-being and justice for all beings. In essence, the conundrum of human and environmental rights starts in the home, very potentially and likely in therapy, and expands ever outward. 

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Personal healing doesn’t happen within a vacuum. I believe a therapeutic environment with guidance while working with loved ones is a step toward integrating what we do in hour-long sessions into our daily lives. I hope to find work with a counseling cooperative, with resources to assess clients’ diverse needs and find their best fit. I wish to offer accessible, sliding scale fees at a sustainable rate for both client and professional—something I have benefited from in accessing therapy. I also have wider dreams of integrating nature connection, teaching in higher education, carving paths for courses in ecopsychology and rites-of-passage work. Presently, I want hands-on practice in a field that really gets to the nitty gritty of who we are. I want to support a hopefully diverse set of clients with their intentions and visions for growth and deeper connection. I believe the world wins as we gain insights into our personal relationships, accessing resilience for our complexity, while untangling what is over-complicated in our lives. Completing my MACFT at Seattle University is the next step towards these goals, one I have much anticipation in taking.