Today we’d like to introduce you to Elizabeth Hill, MA, MFT
Hi Elizabeth, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I grew up in Chula Vista, California in a single-parent home, being raised by my mother and grandmother. My family ended up moving to the south Oregon coast and I lived there as an adolescent, attending the community college there (where I obtained my AA degree) before returning to San Diego to attend SDSU (undergraduate studies in psychology). I had been interested in psychology since I was child, being fascinated with people, behavior, families and the effects of trauma upon family systems. I majored in psychology at SDSU, minored in Africana studies and spent four years there, doing lab research and preparing for graduate school in psychology to become a therapist. I completed my master’s degree from Chapman university in San Diego, then did practicum studies and internships working with local community populations in San Diego county.
Beginning in 2000, I worked with children in a variety of settings. I taught preschool, worked in daycare facilities, worked with children in the foster care system and also worked with incarcerated women and their children in an alternative sentencing program. I then transitioned to working primarily with adults in settings such as inpatient hospitalization, outpatient intensive treatment programs, outpatient treatment with incarcerated adults and convicted sex offenders on parole/probation. I have always had an abundance of empathy for the most disenfranchised/marginalized populations in society – hence my work in some very challenging settings.
I completed a required 3,000 hours under supervision, sat for two licensing exams and became licensed as an MFT (marriage and family therapist) in 2015. I started my private practice in 2017 and currently focus solely on my practice where I see disenfranchised/marginalized individuals, couples and families. Since Covid began in 2020, I’ve been working remotely 100% of the time and no longer have an office outside of my home. This has enabled me to reach more people throughout the state of California and creates such a convenience and flexibility – it has worked very well for 4 years now! I am very proud of the work I am doing and it is truly fulfilling, rewarding and inspiring to be a part of so much healing and recovery.
I live and work now from my home in Southeast San Diego with my amazing, supportive husband and our dog, Tyrion.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I would not say the road has been smooth and definitely not without struggles. Growing up in a single family home, there were not many “extras.” Part of the challenge along the way has been financial – taking out massive amounts of student loans, living paycheck to paycheck, working multiple jobs while being in school for 8 years. None of that was easy because I could never focus on school full time without having to work multiple jobs simultaneously. When becoming acquainted with peers along the way, I often did not realize that not everybody had student loans, that people often had two supportive parents, also that my peers did not have to work multiple jobs while juggling school, practicums, internships and studying for licensure.
Another challenge for me has been being a Black woman in a field traditionally dominated by white men. Women have really made in-roads and become less of a minority in the field of psychology, however, being a Black woman, I became used to being the “only” across multiple agencies, clinical settings, classrooms, meetings, etc. Navigating corporate spaces with microaggressions, invalidation and invisible barriers to greater success were all challenging for me.
Being a solo practitioner also comes with challenges – there is a lot of responsibility in being a corporation owner, even if I am the only employee in my practice. I have had great mentors, friends and colleagues willing to show me the ropes in my path to having a successful business today.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
EAH Marital and Family Therapy, Inc. is the name of my private practice corporation. I work as a licensed marriage and family therapist seeing individuals, couples and families in the state of California. I tend to focus on marginalized groups, so the majority of my clientele are Black, brown, queer, trans, or some combination thereof. I want to provide a safe space for disenfranchised populations to be able to heal from intergenerational trauma (the historical oppression of colonized populations), racial trauma, discriminatory trauma and other afflictions particular to our experiences. I tend to be family of origin oriented, examining attachment wounds and helping people to have healthier relationships overall. I’m most proud of the practice I’ve built with populations who have historically needed the treatment the most, but been denied the access or ability to participate.
Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
I have been so fortunate to have fellow women around me for most of my career who have been willing to share their strategies for success. My advice for anyone who wants to enter into the field would be to network with peers who are working in the field, to work with a variety of populations and to gain as much diverse training as possible to find your “niche.” It is a long path, but so worth it and so rewarding at the end. This career is flexible, diverse and full of possibilities for a variety of interests. What has worked for me is having the support of friends and colleagues, doing my best not to turn people away and creating relationships in the communities I strive to serve.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/elizabeth-a-hill-san-diego-ca/359959
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ehill_mft/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ehillmft/
- Other: https://www.blackfemaletherapists.com/directory/listing/elizabeth-hill/
