#HumansofUSI is back! 🤩
This week, meet Susie Schenk,
@usi_cnhp Professional Development Specialist.
“I didn’t take a straight path to get here. I started in theater, got my BFA and moved to Los Angeles right after. I did voiceover work, and even worked on a project that ended up as an attraction at Epcot in Disney World. It was fun, but I started to realize I needed something more stable. I saw so many talented people around me struggling, and I knew I wanted a different life.
I’d always been the person my friends came to talk to, so counseling felt like a natural next step. I went back to school, got my master’s in counseling psychology, and moved to Portland. I worked in mental health crisis services, sitting with people in some of their hardest moments. That work mattered to me, but it was intense.
At the same time, I found myself drawn to teaching. I got involved in community education around mental health, and something clicked. I loved being able to take what I knew and share it in a way that helped more than one person at a time. It combined both sides of me, the counseling and the performance.
Eventually, I felt pulled back home. I grew up in southern Indiana, and I wanted to bring that kind of work back here. I started doing contract work with USI, speaking at a conference, and after that, an opportunity became available. Now, I help plan healthcare conferences and create spaces where people can learn, recharge and hopefully feel a little more prepared to go back into their work.
A lot of what drives me is this idea that people shouldn’t have to reach a crisis point to get help. I saw that over and over again. People struggled for a long time before they ever walked through the door. I want to change that. I want mental health to be something we talk about and learn about earlier, the same way we learn to take care of our physical health.
That’s why I’m working toward my doctorate. I want to build something that helps people before they get to that breaking point. If I can take everything I’ve seen and experienced and turn it into something bigger, something that reaches more people, then I think I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be.”
