Counselors, Cookies and Conversation
with Amanda Salisbury, LICSW and Owner/CEO of Trauma Informed therapies
Tremendous Love = Unconditional Positive Regard
Greatest Learning
“There is tremendous power in love.” This is the greatest learning Amanda Salisbury, MSW, LICSW (creator, owner and CEO of Trauma Informed Therapy) shared with me when I delivered cookies with a quest to interview her about her greatest learning. The day we met, she had just celebrated a practice anniversary date of 7 years. I have known Amanda for several years and am delighted to be both a colleague and a friend. I have a feeling this sense of love she expresses, is likely almost anyone’s experience when they meet her. It was an honor to sit down with her and learn more.
I am going to quote Amanda exactly with what she had to share because I feel her own words are most powerful and stand on their own. “My desire in this place [Trauma Informed Therapy] and even why I named it what I named it, is for staff to know the importance of being able to view what is going on with our clients through a trauma informed lens. Also, to understand the difference between providing trauma informed care and being in a truly trauma informed organization. To feel and experience the acting out of that. The values are heavily steeped in being a trauma informed environment. When You have this, it trickles down to the clients. We are our best tool for our clients. I wanted from the beginning to put an emphasis on training and learning, so that clients, whether they have Medicaid or Premera, are welcome here and to reduce the barriers as much as possible. This is so they can receive really good care. My greatest life learning is, I believe that there is tremendous power in love. When you hold the power of love with the wisdom of balance, really good things happen. Examples of that in my mind are when I think about loving clients. That [love] is a No-no to use with clients. Instead, we use unconditional positive regard. Internally, that is love. It is good to have boundaries around love and life. The language around positive regard. That is love. It is a more professional way of saying it. It is more trauma informed. If we are truly trying to embody unconditional positive regard, when you are embodying that, that is love.”
Amanda went on to identify that love is important to her on numerous levels, with her family, friends, work, community, the world and remembering this with self love as well. “What does loving yourself look like? Now we are getting into the power of self-care. I have had a lot of hard lessons as I have that focus.” Amanda spoke of having a high standard and a willingness to work hard. With this, the balance must be kept in mind or the scale is weighed too much in one place and not another. We discussed about how one may pour out more than they get in return, creating a life without balance. I asked her how she recognizes this. She identified balance as being “from the perspective of meeting needs” and not sacrificing ones self in the process. “My work life balance right now is based off the needs and is much more heavily on my family. I have had thought about having more equal checks in things and that is not realistic and that is okay.”
My Take-Away
I value what Amanda has to inspire through authenticity, purpose and love. I think in our profession, these are values we hold and yet I had not heard this said in quite this way. Not everyone is willing to talk about love in relationship with clients. I think she is right in the sense that this feels taboo in a way. There are professional boundaries around this and yet those of us who enter this profession do care genuinely about people. In talking with Amanda, I was awed by her capacity to come from her heart about love and inspire this as a way of being in the profession with balance around our own self care. I gained a new dimension of understanding about Amanda and she reminded me about how powerful love is when look at this through the lens of trauma informed care, unconditional positive regard, also known as love. When we care about each other, not from a place of doing and from a place of acceptance, supporting and being. Thank you Amanda for this valuable and loving lesson.
The Cookies (Recipes Below)
When I asked Amanda what cookies or ingredients she preferred, she said, “My favorite is sugar cookies (no frosting) or snickerdoodles, but I also love just about everything under the sun.” I decided to bake both of these cookies and to try on new recipes for a change of pace. I wanted a user- friendly version for the sugar cookies (not wanting to have to refrigerate or roll these out) and so the 4 Ingredient Sugar Cookies, fit just what I was looking for. I also decided to find a recipe that I hadn’t tried for the Snickerdoodles and was not disappointed with the choice.
I brought the cookies to Amanda on a plate that sported the words “Counselor Cookie Challenge”. This included instructions on her being caught as amazing, what to do next and as a kick-off to a new happening with my practice with the cookies, counselors and conversation. I was thrilled to have Amanda be the first cookie recipient to this and was open to paying this forward with baking for another. Stay tuned counselors, and consider a follow on the Facebook page dedicated with counselor surprises in mind at: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100086543658598
Review of the Cookies:
Amanda’s review of the cookies was, “The sugar cookie had a perfect amount of sugar. Chewy and more on the dense side. Delicious. Thank you.” With the Snickerdoodle, she waited a day later and then said, “Sorry for the delay (I’ve been monitoring my sugar intake). The Snickerdoodle was divine. It truly was the best Snickerdoodle I’ve ever had . . . perfect amount of cinnamon, chewy. . . I can’t wait to have another one tomorrow.”
For my review, I also felt like the sugar cookies were dense and yet good. I really wanted to put frosting on them though. 🙂 I added Halloween-like sugar sprinkles, hoping that this would give these a little more umph. The Snickerdoodle cookie recipe was an okay recipe for a good old-fashioned go-to cookie. I noticed that I missed the flavor of Cream of Tartar as a main ingredient, so would use this next time instead of baking powder. Overall, I agreed they were quite soft, chewy and yummy. If you try either of these recipes, please post your pics or review below. I also recommend that, while it is good to give some cookies away, I also love to freeze these for a tasty treat later as well.
Cookie Recipes for this Conversation
4 Ingredient Sugar Cookies: https://www.kleinworthco.com/4-ingredient-sugar-cookies/
Easy Snickerdoodles: https://bakerbettie.com/easy-snickerdoodle-recipe/
More about Amanda and Trauma Informed Therapies
Amanda Salisbury, LICSW is the owner and CEO of Trauma Informed Therapies, established in 2016. Clients served range from age 13 and up.
Vision: “Our vision is to nurture the practice of Trauma-Informed Approaches (TIA) for Trauma Informed Therapies’ staff and clients, and to support the development of TIA within other behavioral health providers, educators, employers and the community.”
Mission: “Our mission is to provide quality affordable counseling and education that promotes safe exploration of current struggles and past trauma, designed to empower client-centered change and to promote wellness for clients, staff, and the community.”
Trauma Informed Therapies
222 W Mission Ave #122, Spokane, WA 99201
