By Sharikka Finley-Moise, MSW, LICSW
Wellness Counselor
When people experience transitions or any kind of change, it is not uncommon for our lives to feel as if they have been turned upside down. This pandemic has definitely been that test for a lot of people. One of my passions is bringing peace and healing to those individuals, and this has stemmed back as far as giving advice to my friends in summer camp when I was a kid myself! You can even trace it as further back as being strongly influenced by my mother, who became a social worker during my childhood and tried to raise her children to be the best they could.
Coming from an African-American and Haitian background, I was taught very early to work hard and to help others. I graduated with my bachelor’s in psychology from the University of Massachusetts in Lowell, and then went on to graduate from Boston College with my master’s degree in social work with a concentration in health and mental health. My practice with clients has included middle schoolers learning about themselves and how they fit in the world, men and women reintegrating back into the community after years of incarceration, individuals dealing with both mental health and medical health concerns, and people struggling with substance use or recovery process.
As a woman, it is important for me to never be put in a box when it comes to my abilities and my motivation. Thus, I have been trained in many treatment modalities which include Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Motivational Interviewing and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, and I intend to keep learning more. Besides my profession, I love music and sports (I played flute and ran track for 10 years), speaking other languages (French and Spanish) and enjoying the beach.
