This week we invite you to learn more about Robin Kinney, an Advanced Practice Social Worker (APSW) and Therapist at HEART Counseling.

About Robin Kinney, From Teacher to Social Worker

My name is Robin Kinney and I’m a member of the HEART Counseling team. I was first drawn to HEART because of our mission: Healing through Education, Action, and Research-based Treatment.

As a teenager thinking about college and life beyond, I knew that I wanted to pursue a career where I could work with teens. Since math was always my easiest subject in school, I decided to become a high school math teacher. I completed my student teaching in rural mid-Michigan. Then my first year of employment was spent in a lovely school district in a suburb of Flint, MI. Being in front of a classroom came naturally to me and I sincerely loved working with my students.

At the end of my first year of teaching, I got married and moved across the country to Oakland, CA. There I spent the next 7 years in an underfunded, urban high school. Even though the job was tough at times, I grew as an educator and became a Board Certified Teacher in Adolescent and Young Adult Mathematics by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.

In the years after the passing of “No Child Left Behind” legislation, the emphasis on test scores and “teaching to the test,” grew. Through no fault of their own, many of my inner-city students were years behind in math skills. Like many of my peers and predecessors, I got burned out because the needs of my students far outweighed my capacity to meet those needs within my role as a math teacher; I was instructed to focus on my students’ standardized test scores instead of the whole student.

The Impact of Trauma Inspires Robin to Become a Social Worker

During my years in Oakland, CA, I learned about the effects of trauma on my students and the various traumatic experiences my students lived through. All of them had generational trauma and almost all experienced community violence, food and housing insecurity, the juvenile “justice” system, the child welfare and foster care systems, or other factors that prevented them from being ready to learn when they entered my classroom – when they were able to get to school. The UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital of Oakland built a satellite clinic in the building next door to the high school. There, many of my students were able to receive a variety of physical and mental health services, as well as case management services to help them meet their basic needs. I quickly became envious of the different ways these professionals could work with my students beyond my limitations in the classroom.

I was a talented and dedicated teacher and I had many opportunities to find easier students to work with. However, after 8 years in the classroom I decided to leave the teaching profession to pursue a Masters of Social Work degree. My intention was to return to Oakland, CA to help change the systems of oppression that prevented my students’ success.

Robin’s Social Work Experience

My first experience in social work were spent as a case manager at a homeless shelter for women with young children. I also worked as a clinical case manager (i.e. psychotherapy + case management) for incarcerated adolescent males. Finally I was able to work as a behavioral mental health clinician working with teens (and their families and teachers) who were at risk of being removed from their homes due to severe misbehavior in conjunction with learning disabilities, mental health concerns, and involvement with the juvenile justice or foster care systems.

As I worked in the field, I learned that my interests and skill set lended more towards psychotherapy than the stereotypical case manager role that we tend to associate with social workers. So after moving across the country, birthing two children, and spending time as a “stay at home mom,” I returned to my social work career focusing primarily on psychotherapy.

Robin Joins HEART Counseling

HEART Counseling was the perfect fit for me. HEART is rooted in Social Work values and principles and allows me to bring my teacher/educator parts into the counseling room. We are highly trained professionals using evidenced based treatment modalities (such as CBT, EMDR, and IFS) to help people heal from their trauma.

I identify as an Internal Family Systems Therapist who uses EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) Therapy with parts who are struggling with symptoms from challenging situations. Each of my clients is unique, and so is their therapy experience. I strive to meet my clients where they are at and involve my clients in every treatment planning decision so that I am supporting my clients in becoming the people they want to be in the world.

Robin Today: Madison, Wisconsin Social Worker Therapist

Although part of my heart will always be with the kids in Oakland, CA, I am happy to be living in Madison, Wisconsin! I still love teens and young adults and my passion has broadened to include pregnant people, parents (especially those with babies and young children), and people who are struggling with significant life transitions. I genuinely love people and I hope that all of my clients can feel my unconditional positive regard and respect while I’m working with them.

When I am not in the HEART Counseling office, I’m usually with my husband, 2 children, and 2 cats. We love biking around Lake Monona, walking to a local playground, catching up with friends, or having a family video game night. I love to read (a mix of memoirs, science fiction, self-help, and professional development), play piano, make collages, and spend time outside gardening, canoeing, hiking, and camping.