Hope Kelaher originally pursued environmental engineering at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore but quickly realized that she preferred helping people. She worked in the college’s career center as a career coach and had the opportunity to go to Cuba to study their public health system. After attending Johns Hopkins, Hope completed some internships with the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva on postpartum depression. This was her initial entry into the world of psychology as she “did a lot of work in Inner City Baltimore at the Hopkins School Public Health doing family and child health research.” She then had the opportunity to go into the Peace Corp, where they commissioned her to Uganda doing AIDS Hospice work. However, when getting her physical, her doctor looked at her and said “why are you going to Uganda? You could do so much good here in Baltimore, why don’t you stick around?” Her doctor told her that hospice work is really hard and “I don’t really think this is the best thing for you.” Hope’s uncle also said the same thing. So, she decided to stay in Baltimore and worked at The Annie E. Casey Foundation, which was started by one of the founders of UPS, Jim Casey, and exists to help children thrive and survive in underdeveloped and low-income communities by providing services and grants to those in need. She also worked with the NECC Foundation and the Children’s Aid Society.

In this podcast, Hope shares her academic and professional journey, discusses why she went into social work and some of the requirements to become a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) in the state of New York. She also discusses her private practice, Hope Kelaher Therapy, located in Lower Manhattan, NYC. Hope received her bachelor’s degree in public health and sociology from Johns Hopkins University and her Master of Arts in Social Work from Columbia University. She conducted her post-graduate study in Marriage and Family Therapy/Counseling at the Ackerman Institute for Family in NY.

Those interested in a career in social work or psychology may find that schooling can be expensive. In addition to internships, scholarships, grants, and other funding opportunities to help offset the cost of schooling, Hope shares how she attained funding from the Children’s Aid Society to help fund half of her tuition while attending Columbia University. Hope shares “so, Columbia and my agency had this agreement where I could, you know, go to school part-time and then work full-time, so that’s what I did.” She continues by stating “any recommendation I can give to people going into social work, social work does not pay a lot of money, so wherever you can find a deal, take it, right?” After graduating from Columbia, she decided to pursue family therapy, so she attended Ackerman Institute for Family.

When reflecting on her journey, Hope shares “so really, my journey into private practice and being more of a clinical person happened while I was working in a nonprofit agency.” After she completed the Ackerman Institute for Family’s clinical externship, she remembers doing a lot of hard work, working really long hours, and not getting compensated fairly “and so, that’s something that people have to really think about when they do this work.” Therefore, Hope started her own very small private practice in 2018 while she was still working full-time.

She explains that, in New York, a licensed clinical social worker can do therapy whereas in some other states, you have to have a PsyD or PhD. At this point, we discuss some of the requirements for becoming a LCSW in New York and share some valuable information and websites for those interested in this career path. Hope discusses some of the biggest challenges associated with opening your own private practice and provides helpful advice including making sure you “get a lot of experience working with many different people before you go into private practice because you never know who will show up.” It takes a lot of work and financial resources and support to get a practice up and running. Hope also suggests that you know your own boundaries and make them known to your clients so that you don’t find yourself working long or odd hours. She states, “people starting a private practice, they’re just so eager to kind of build their clientele that they are too accommodating.” You also need to remember to screen your clients before taking them on and remember “some people are not going to be the right fit for you and that is OK. And also having other people in the field that you can refer them to, I felt was very helpful.”

Hope reminds us that “part of being a therapist today is being a businessperson.” She says, “there’s a lot of freedom in working for yourself, but then there’s also a lot of responsibility by and thinking about the business end with cash flow, you know, paying estimated taxes, health insurance, all of that stuff that sometimes is an afterthought because people get so eager.” You can, and should, reach out for help if you need guidance. Hope also believes that it is important to focus on “self-care” because social work and therapy takes a lot of energy so consider getting your own therapist to help keep you grounded and process any traumatic event or journeys shared with you from your clients.

Near the end of our discussion, we discuss a couple of her books including Here to Make Friends: How to Make Friends as an Adult which is a Gold winner for Family & Relationships in the 2020 Foreword INDIES Book Awards and her most recent book The Resilience Workbook for Women: A Transformative Guide to Discover Your Inner Strength, Conquer Adversity, and Achieve Your Goals. She believes all of us are born with a level of resilience, but some do not know how to cultivate it. In the workbook, she provides exercises that are applicable to many different challenges a person is experiencing in their life. Though the workbook is specifically designed for women, many of the principles and exercises can be used for men as well.

When asked what she loves most about her job, Hope shares “somebody just came out with a list of the most gratifying careers and construction was the first one because people can see the end product. As therapists, we don’t always get to see the end product, but the gift of seeing somebody blossom is just, it’s the most amazing thing.”  

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https://vimeo.com/883173874

Interests and Specializations

Hope Kelaher has extensive training and experience in relational and systematic therapy. She is passionate about helping individuals, couples, and families who are struggling with anxiety and depression by examining the individual themselves and in the various contexts of their lives such as home life, work life, and community life.

Education

Bachelor of Arts (BA), Public Health, Sociology (2005); The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD.Master of Arts (MA), Social Work (2011); Columbia University, New York, NY.Post Graduate Study, Marriage and Family Therapy/Counseling (2017); Ackerman Institute for Family, New York, NY.

Other Sources and Links of Interest

Hope Kelaher: Psychology TodayHope Kelaher: Simon & SchusterHope Kelaher: Ulysses Press

Podcast Transcript

00:15 BradleyWelcome to the Master’s in Psychology Podcast where psychology students can learn from psychologists, educators, and practitioners to better understand what they do, how they got there, and hear the advice they have for those interested in getting a graduate degree in psychology. I'm your host, Brad Schumacher. Today, we welcome Hope Kelaher to the show. Hope is a licensed clinical social worker with a private practice in lower Manhattan. She provides individual, couple, and family therapy. She received her bachelor's degree in public health and sociology from Johns Hopkins University, and her Master of Arts in Social Work from Columbia University. Hope is an author of a few books, including Here to Make Friends: How to Make Friends as an Adult, which was a Gold Winner for Family & Relationships in the 2020 Foreword INDIES Book Awards. Her most recent book is called The Resilience Workbook for Women: A Transformative Guide to Discover Your Inner Strength, Conquer Adversity, and Achieve Your Goals. Today we will learn more about her academic and professional journey, more about Hope Kelleher Therapy and her new book, and hear her advice for those interested in the field of social work and psychology. Hope, welcome to our podcast.

01:28 HopeHi, Brad. Thank you so much for having me today. I'm very excited to share my journey with those who might be interested in pursuing a degree in social work or psychology.

01:40 BradleyWell, I appreciate you taking the time out of your schedule to talk with us. Every single guest on our podcast has a different journey to tell, and so I know that when we looked at yours, you received your bachelor's degree in public health and sociology, as I said, at John Hopkins, Johns Hopkins University. Tell me a little bit more about your undergraduate experiences and what eventually led you to focus on public health and sociology.

02:05 HopeYeah, that's a really good question. I went to Johns Hopkins in. I graduated in from high school in 2001. So, it was right after 911 or just before 911, I was at Hopkins during 9/11. I went in to pursue environmental engineering and was just absolutely miserable. And I realized that I liked working with people. I liked being around people, I like helping people. I worked at my college's Career Center as like a career coach type of thing, and I just I really like volunteering. And then my university had a program, it is a little sort of tangled web, but where we where we did a little bit of a study in Cuba, in Havana. And so, I had always wanted to go to Havana.