Meet Emily Campbell of USTAWI: https://ustawicounseling.com

Today we’d like to introduce you to Emily Campbell.

Hi Emily, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Hi, my name is Emily Campbell. I started my college path thinking I wanted to be a veterinarian and ended up majoring in “Snowboarding” instead. After two years of barely making it through community college I decided a trade school may be best fit for me, so I pursued cosmetology with the Aveda institute in Denver, London, and Berlin. Upon graduation I missed snowboarding, the mountains, my horses… and a bank account that maintained a positive balance. I secured a job with an Aveda salon in Durango, CO with intentions to spend one winter working, snowboarding and saving money to move out of the US or at least to Hawii. After cutting and coloring hair for about three months I decided it wasn’t the fashion or the art of the profession that I enjoyed, but the science of human psychology that intrigued me. I began planning to move to HI and continue on with college; however, two weeks after being excepted in the University Honolulu I found out I was pregnant, with my soon-to-be-16-year-old daughter.
This turn of events led to my pivot from seeking a degree in Industrial Organizational Psychology to Clinical Social Work because it was offered at the University of Denver with an associated certificate in Animal Assisted Social Work as well as an emersion program in Kenya with orphaned children and elephants.

I completed my Masters in Social Work when my daughter was 2 years old and began working with a non-profit equine therapy facility which was incredibly fulfilling and fit well as I raised my young daughter. Eventually I realized I wanted more clinical experience and transitioned into being a crisis therapist with our local community mental health organization which shed light on the burnout of providers across the board from medical to mental health. From here I was offered a position after my first EMDR training to join a private practice and work part-time as a clinician and part-time as the and Chief of Operations and Development where I was able to design programs and retreats for physicians locally and nationally as well as teach EMDR and supervise our team of clinicians. I grew this organization from our sweet little private practice of four to operating with 20 providers at the time I decided to transition into owning my own private practice.

Six years ago I started Ustawi, Counseling, Coaching and Consulting with the mission to create a practice that cultivates wellness through individual counseling and retreats; coaching by educating our community and consulting with peers promoting wellbeing for all.

A year and a half ago I joined a collaborative office with Megan Lott as a next step in this mission to further promote wellness in my patients with her knowledge of how food can be medicine for the body and acupuncture can calm the nervous system, together we have seen exponential results in our patients from the lens of mind, body and psyche.

Our colaboration and ability to work with our patients has a symbiosis that has provided healing for patients I have worked with for years and have experienced chronic health symptoms which otherwise remained mysterious to most physicians, but today a number of our patients only see us once every three months or less. *Some will just stop in the clinic to say “hi!”

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I have had a very blessed path up to this point in many aspects, but this didn’t come without a number of monumentous hurdles. From beginning Graduate School with a baby and three jobs to navigating tumultuous divorce being forced to make a legal report against my supervisor of 8 years.
All the while I navigated a number of my own health issues, which were exacerbated by stress.

These health issues, and the advice to “avoid stress” (as if that is possible in our society) increased my curiosity about the relationship between human psychology and physiology, which lead me to working through the integrative lens I use with my patients today. Though the experience and education I took away from the court system with my divorce, reporting my supervisor, and being a mother were situations I never imagined I never imagined for my life, I grew and expanded personally and professionally more than I could have ever imagine.

We’ve been impressed with USTAWI: https://ustawicounseling.com, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Ustawi Counseling, Coaching, and Consulting

“Ustawi” is a Swahili word meaning well-being, to thrive, and to flourish. Africa has inspired me since childhood, first through a classroom presentation on Kenya’s culture and wildlife. That early exposure to the resilience and generosity of both humans and animals planted a seed that guided my path into Animal-Assisted Social Work. Years later, I had the opportunity to travel to Kenya on an immersion course, witnessing firsthand the strength and joy of communities facing scarcity. This perspective shapes Ustawi’s mission to promote wellness for both humans and animals.. I created this definition in collaboration with, with my dear friend Catherine Chumbo, from Nairobi.

I specialize in trauma, dissociative disorders, domestic violence and anxiety and depression with a variety of modalities I have extensive training in: EMDR, Animal Assisted Therapy, Equine Assisted EMDR, Ketamine Assisted (KAP)-EMDR, Mindfulness and Somatic Experience (SE),CBT, DBT, and autonomic nervous system approaches within a holistic framework. Sessions are tailored to each individual to foster emotional resilience, personal growth, and overall well-being.

My philosophy is that healing is integrative, personalized, and designed to support the whole person—mind, body, and spirit.

I am certified by EMDRIA in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing): Evidence-based therapy to heal emotional distress and trauma and have been an EMDRIA Approved Consultant for EMDR for the past 8 years. I enjoy teaching and supervising younger clinicians as well as holding consultation groups for other clinicians.

As a certified Animal-Assisted Therapist I incorporate, Wafflez, a therapy dog, during most sessions.When I am not in the office I am on a ranch providing equine-assisted psychotherapy – at times with or without EMDR.

As mentioned previously Megan Lott and I have created a Wellness Package for our patients which takes an integrative approach combining psychotherapy, acupuncture, functional medicine, nutrition, and lifestyle guidance for chronic pain, anxiety, fatigue, hormonal or autoimmune imbalances, trauma, or major life transitions.

How do you define success?
I define success as finding one’s inner purpose and striving to live life as close to that and in the most fulfilling way as possible each day.

Pricing:

• 175
• 260
• 350
• 2140
• 3500

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ustawicounseling.com/our-providers
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ustawi_counseling/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/Ustawi-LLC-Cultivating-Wellness-Through-Teaching-Sharing-and-Therapy/100073364027879/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-campbell-5b2431236/recent-activity/all/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmDGd1YYFtY&t=1s