Therapy with Robin?
Hi there. My name is Robin DeBates and I'm a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Pennsylvania, Washington state, Florida and New Jersey. I'm also a registered nurse in PA, working on getting credentialed as a psych nurse practitioner.
I like to think of myself as a professional generator of kindness.
That's a pretty fluffy, air-fairy, crystal, chakra, shaman thing to say, right? Let me break it down for you a little bit.
Making extra effort to slow down, be kind to each other, to extend grace, and to make room for each other is often within our reach. It's a practice we can cultivate to really see and support each other, even in the midst of stress, suffering, and despair. And that connection is what heals.
Being afraid is difficult. Being afraid and alone feels awful.
My goal in therapy is to help you feel supported and less alone, even if and as you feel afraid or angry or despondent or frustrated or annoyed because you're not sure if you need to make a change, or you know you want to make a change but feel stuck.
I've honed my skills in helping people (including myself) deal with stress and make changes and get through challenging times over the last 22 years.
I worked for Project HOME Healthcare Services for six years where I developed and managed a primary- care-based opioid and addiction treatment service. This was usually in the context of co-occurring psychiatric and physical illness or disability, poverty, and homelessness.
I've trained scores of other health care providers and been invited to present at local and national conferences about our primary care drug treatment. We've recently been able to publish a qualitative study about our retention rates and as qualitative study about our MOUD program. So pleased about this!
Because I want more tools to be able to help people, I am currently in nursing school. My ultimate goal is a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner credential. This will eventually enable me to provide prescription medications in addition to therapy. Plus, who doesn't need a third master's degree, right??!??
I grew up in Minnesota, then spent a total of 18 years in southern Oregon and Seattle, WA before moving to Philadelphia in 2016. While in Seattle I acquired a HAM radio license so I could help support long distance bike rides and races. My first foray into radio, though, was at my college radio station, KVSC in St. Cloud, MN.
I tend to be a good fit for people who tend toward geeky/nerdy side of things. This might look like anime, making your own Makerbot, or simply having strong opinions about the Oxford comma (thanks to fellow geek therapist Kate Reeves for this identifier). Myself, I tend toward knitting, putting blinky lights in clothes, and making plasma balls in the microwave. Also very much pro-Oxford comma.
Kink, poly, sex work/camming aware and supportive.
I am socially located as a middle-class, white, cisgender, queer woman with an invisible disability made visible by my use of a service dog to support me. Anti-racist work and environmental justice have been part of my life since I was a teenager.
When I'm not helping others or studying, you're likely to find me knitting, cycling, reading, taking my dog for long walks in the woods, or in the kitchen cooking and growing my indoor garden. I have a slightly ambitious goal of being able to grow all my own greens year-round, while living in an apartment.