Flip the Script: Interview with Jessie Pollak, MA, LPC
M: Hello, this is Megan at Cleveland Health and Wellness Center. I’m here with Jessie Pollak, one of our therapists, for our Flip the Script interview. Jessie Pollak received her Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from John Carroll University and her undergraduate degree in Psychology, with a minor in Theatre, at the Ohio State University. Her focus is on psychotherapy with children, adolescents, and their families with an emphasis on depression, general anxiety, social anxiety, suicidality, and helping those who are shy or introverted to open up. She uses an eclectic approach, incorporating CBT, DBT, and expressive therapies, including drama, into her practice. She has co-facilitated both Adult and Adolescent Intensive Outpatient Programs, and worked in local theatre, where she interacts with parents and children alike. She believes that every person deserves to express themselves in a non-judgmental environment.
Jessie, thank you for being here with me today.
J: Thank you for having me.
M: Of course. So our first question for you is, when did you first realize that you wanted to be a therapist?
J: Well, it actually runs in my family. My grandmother and my dad are both therapists in the area. But I specifically knew when I was working at a local theater camp, and one of my longtime kiddos was really struggling one summer, and so I took it kind of upon myself to sit with her at lunch, and we’d kind of go off and work on some specific mental health things, just kind of talking and it kind of just made me realize that this is what I wanted to do and I really wanted to work with this population of children and adolescents. And work on mental health and behavioral aspects of their lives, and it really changed my life in that regard, and I kind of ever since that was what I wanted to do.
M: Great, thank you. What populations do you enjoy working with?
J: My biggest is children and adolescents, I think that’s what I have the most experience working with, but it’s also definitely my favorite with play therapy, art, drama, things like that. But I’ve started to branch out and work with some adults too, and that’s been a whole different take. That’s been interesting as well.
M: Wonderful, and you touched on this a little bit, but if you can go into what treatment modalities do you draw from in your work.
J: Absolutely. I mostly use DBT and CBT, working with challenging irrational thoughts, mindfulness, and things like that. That’s mostly what I utilize. I really like to incorporate some play therapy techniques when I work with children and adolescents because it does tell a lot about their behaviors when they can’t exactly verbalize what they are thinking. I also have a strong interest in drama therapy as I’ve been doing drama my whole life. I’m looking into getting more certifications in that, as well.
M: Great, thank you. Can you tell us about your unique strengths as a therapist?
J: Sure. I think my biggest strength overall is building rapport, and I didn’t always think this was going to be my strength. It was something I was a little worried about. But I think from being at the Cleveland Health and Wellness Center, since when I started until now, it’s been about a year, I’ve built rapport with people and clients that I didn’t think I would, and I’ve built it rather quickly. And just relating to them and validating what they’ve been through and really getting them to open up in a way that’s not too quick for them, but where they feel comfortable and willing to open up, and we’ve been able to open some doors for clients who really didn’t think they’d get to the place that they’re in because they were able to open up to me. So I think my biggest strength would be building that rapport and connection with clients in order to build progress forward.
M: That’s great; thank you. How do you manage stress in your life?
J: [Laughs.] Um, great question. I am a doer and I always have multiple things going on in my life and I’m a big to do list person. I always have a to do list and I make multiple to do lists within to do lists to make sure that everything gets done. But I think that my biggest way of managing stress is prioritizing and deciding what needs to be done right now and allowing myself at a point in the night or in the evening that I’ve done what I can do for the day and now I’m going to be done and I’m going to put everything away and I’m going to relax for the evening and go to bed. And kind of giving boundaries and prioritizing certain things and something else can wait until the next day or a few hours later, and just kind of giving myself that time to… whether that’s self care or spending time with friends, or whatever that may be is just setting priorities with that.
M: Thank you. And finally, what makes therapy effective, and who can benefit from therapy?
J: Truthfully I think that everyone can benefit from therapy. Just because it’s not just for mental health and mental illnesses. I think there’s a misconception with that. It can be for certain areas of your life that you just need help working through, it can be for making really difficult decisions, quitting habits, things like that. A lot of it has to do with behaviors that you want to change as well. So I think everyone can benefit, truly. And what makes therapy effective is that typically the client is in the driver’s seat and the therapist is helping to guide. And I think that’s when it’s most effective, is when a client can say, this is what I want, here’s my goal, and here’s what’s in my way, here’s how I’m going to get it. And the therapist kind of helps delineate how that’s going to happen. But the client gets to choose the pace and where they’re comfortable and how that can happen.
M: Wonderful! Well thank you so much for taking the time to speak with me today, and I’m glad we got to know you a little bit better.
J: Absolutely, thank you!