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Therapists answer…

Why did you become a therapist, and what motivates you to continue?

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Kelly Bracken

Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner, PMHNP
Online & In-PersonAccepting New Clients
Procrastinating on work or running on autopilot? Struggling to stay focused, get quality sleep, or keep your routines on track? Maybe you’re feeling drained, frustrated by nutrition, exercise habits, or hormonal shifts, or just not like yourself lately. You’re not alone. I help people stop wasting their energy on things that drain them and start investing it where it counts. I’m a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner and work with adults ages 19 to 45. My focus is on comprehensive medication management for ADHD, Depression, Insomnia, PMDD, PTSD, and weight management. I treat the whole person, not just their symptoms. This includes looking closely at sleep habits, screen time, food choices, weightlifting, communication, mindset, and daily routines to support lasting change. My focus is on making sure you’re strong in every area, not just surviving. With 10 years of experience as a travel nurse, including 6 in psychiatry, I bring a strong clinical foundation to my current role as a nurse practitioner. Over the years, one thing has become clear to me: at the core, we are all more alike than different. Most people want peace, autonomy, and real enjoyment in their lives. My philosophy is a lot like sports. In baseball, maybe you can catch, run, and hit line drives, but if you can’t throw the ball, you’ll never reach your full potential. Mental health works the same way. Medication, sleep, movement, and daily habits all work together. That’s how real change happens.
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Araya Baker

Licensed Professional Counselor Associate
Online & In-PersonAccepting New Clients
My most important commitment is that you feel truly affirmed, empowered, and heard. I listen with deep curiosity and humility, always honoring your unique story and how your lived experiences have shaped your values, hopes, and emotional needs. Whether you’re grappling with anxiety, self-doubt, grief, people-pleasing, or power struggles in your relationships, I create a nonjudgmental space to explore complex feelings like guilt, insecurity, jealousy, regret, resentment, and more. I also offer a deep understanding of cultural pressures, marginalization, and power dynamics. For over 15 years, I've worked alongside diverse communities in public health and education––from LGBTQIA+ centers, sexual health programs, and reproductive justice organizations, to disability centers, trauma-informed crisis lines, and under-resourced schools. Across nearly two decades, I have supported numerous people of color and immigrants––many of them queer and/or trans––as they negotiated multiple perspectives on belonging, cultural authenticity, discrimination, failure/success, faith, family, sexuality, and social class. Witnessing the tenacity, self-awareness, compassion, and character of cycle-breakers was one of a few major motivators for entering the profession. I earned an M.Phil.Ed. in Professional Counseling from the University of Pennsylvania's Graduate School of Education and an Ed.M. in Human Development & Psychology at Harvard's Graduate School of Education.