Choice magazine_Final

CELEBRATING SUCCESS:

A Profile with CHOICESTherapist Le AnnTaylor

LeAnn Taylor is the lead therapist, an assessor and a part of the clinical program management team for CHOICES Cleveland. She works with current clients on their mental health assessments and assists new clients with the drug screenings required for intake into the center. She also facilitates behavioral health groups for emotional wellness. Taylor has worked in the field of mental health services since 2009. She primarily worked in schools and counseled children and their parents. Her interest in the field developed from a childhood dream of being a pediatrician or working with cancer patients. “I’d always thought I would work in one of those areas until I realized I had a fear of seeing blood,” she said. Her interest changed when she one day witnessed a high school counselor telling one of her friends that she wasn’t fit for attending college and should consider another route once graduating high school. “That really shook me, because I knew there had to be other ways to work with her and still encourage her to succeed. A counselor should be able to convey a client’s options to them in a manner that still gives them hope.” Combining these interests and experience along with seeing some of her family members struggle with mental health and substance abuse led Taylor to pursue mental health counseling.

“I’m Hoping People Can Learn a different way of being.”

26