Ashley Pereira, LMSW, CBTS

When I was in elementary school, I had a learning disability that pulled me out of the classroom more often than I would have liked. Being separated from the other kids made me feel different in a way that stuck with me, and at that age I didn’t have the tools to make sense of it. Then I met my school social worker. She helped me navigate what I was feeling, and the connection we built changed the direction of my entire life.

On the day my graduating class visited our elementary schools one last time, I searched that building until I found her. I couldn’t stop crying because she remembered me. I recently reached out to tell her that I became a licensed social worker because of her. The way she helped me is the reason I do this work.

For a while, I thought I wanted to be a homicide detective because I was drawn to helping families find answers during the worst moments of their lives. But somewhere along the way I realized it wasn’t the investigation I cared about. It was the people. I stepped away from criminal justice and pursued my master’s in social work, and that brought me exactly where I am meant to be.

My clinical training took me into a high school working with teens referred for substance use on campus, and later into a community mental health clinic supporting women in recovery who were raising their children while living alongside other women in a shared facility. Those experiences taught me how to sit with complicated situations where there aren’t clean answers and progress doesn’t happen on a predictable timeline. I currently work as a case planner for families and teens, connecting them with mental health resources while managing documentation for court proceedings.

I use mindfulness techniques and I’m comfortable incorporating movement and activities into sessions when sitting and talking isn’t getting us anywhere.

I grew up as a competitive swimmer and being in the water has been how I cope with life for as long as I can remember. I still swim and I spend as much time at the beach as I possibly can. Staying physically active keeps me grounded and present for the people I work with. The phrase that guides my work is “it takes time”. Not everything can be resolved in the same moment it surfaces, and that’s a big part of what therapy teaches you.

When I left the mental health clinic, several of the women I’d worked with told me how much better they felt and how differently they were handling difficult situations after months of sessions. One former client ran into me afterward and was so excited just to see me. It’s moments like these that confirm I’m doing the right work.

If you’re nervous about starting, I want you to know that it’s completely normal to want to talk to someone who doesn’t have a stake in your life.

It can be hard to open up to the people you see every day because they’re affected by what you say. Having someone outside of all that, who can hear you without it changing your relationship, can make all the difference.