Schedule a Call

MOVING MOUNTAINS

Resources

FILTER

Staff Spotlight: Matt Pedersen

Posted on by Sarah Shebek

Calm in the Chaos

Clinician Matt Pedersen, MA, LCMHC, tends not to be phased by tough situations. After an unstable childhood, he found himself drawn to the challenge of working in high-needs settings. His desire to understand human motivation led him across the country, where he gained plenty of experience building rapport with complex students in major cities. Today Matt and his wife both work for Mountain Valley, and they’re enjoying a slower lifestyle while continuing to serve their community.

Tell us about your background?

“I was born in Poughkeepsie and I grew up in Hudson Valley between there and New York City. My grandparents are immigrants from Scandinavia, and I’m the first in my family to go to college. I had a complex family system growing up. My parents separated when I was young and they both had lots of different partners. At one point in high school, the district attorney raided our home, and my stepfather went to prison for white collar crime. I experienced a lot of different types of cultures and social classes growing up, from living in poverty to having some privilege and kind of back and forth. My whole life there have been these themes of intense complex stuff. It all resulted in me being deeply curious about why we are like this.

In college, I ended up studying human development because I didn’t know what I wanted to do and I just wanted to learn about all the different things. Before I picked human development, I like kind of went on a quest to just trying to study random interesting things, so I have a credit short of a minor in Africana Studies, and I have a good background of psychology. I did undergraduate in human development at Binghamton University New York State in 2009. That’s when of one of the economy collapses happened and a human developer isn’t really a job.

One of my friends from college had parents following the Grateful Dead around the world and worked in the music festival world. I fell in with them doing concert vending and things like that. Then I started thinking about why I work with people again. I thought about teaching or psychology but settled on counseling because I wanted to work directly with people rather than testing or something. I chose school over clinical first because I wanted to get exposure to as many types of humans as possible, and I figured I’d get more of that in the public schools.

I went for school counseling but did my clinical credits at the same time at Concordia in Chicago. Before moving to Chicago, I worked as a substitute teacher in New York State, then I worked at some charter schools in Chicago. I noticed that I liked working in high needs schools. But after grad school there weren’t many open positions in Chicago, so I cast a wide net and ended up in Denver. I had a choice of a few different schools, and I picked the middle school that was about to close because it had a reputation for being dangerous. It went from about 1,000 kids to 150 and was spinning its wheels. When I got there, they had the right combination of people. We had a six-year plan to try and turn the school around and we were able to accomplish that goal in several months. I started to get my feet wet with ERP and systematic desensitization and severe school avoidance, things like that. I got a reputation for being able to get the chronic school avoiders to come back to school.

I met my wife in Denver and when COVID hit, we thought about moving back to the East Coast to be closer to friends and family. We bounced around a few more times to New York, Las Vegas, Rhode Island, and the Mad River Valley. Eventually we moved to Philadelphia and my wife and I both worked at Strawberry High School in the Strawberry Mansion neighborhood. It has a bad reputation for dangerous gang crime and in the 90s it was declared the most dangerous high school in the country. My students experienced constant violence, gun violence, extreme trauma, all kinds of stuff happening. I was able to do some good work there, but it wasn’t worth the tradeoffs.”

How did you end up at Mountain Valley? 

“My wife is from Claremont and Cornish, and her father owns some land, so we decided to roll the dice and move there. I considered working at area schools but decided on a mobile crisis position. I jumped into the clinical world pretty easily and got licensed. After that, I started looking around to see what else was out there, and we came across Mountain Valley. I was suspicious about how interesting it looked. I reached out to Alison and asked some tough questions, and she met everything with transparency and openness. It seemed like a really good place.

It’s a quite different population from others I’ve worked with but there is some consistent overlap. There’s a different kind of high need you get with resource and a different kind of complexity. In some ways it’s flashier to feel empathy for someone who doesn’t have any resources, but in some ways the privileged also suffer because they have the expectation that they should be fine. It is interesting, it keeps you on your toes to explain to lots of different people what you’re doing.”

What draws you to working in challenging situations?

“I think at the very beginning, even at a young age I remember being deeply curious, starting around three years old. I thought that there had to be more to how people interact. I thought if I tried to interact with people who have really complex things going on, maybe that would teach me more about people in general. As I started that work and realized I had some skill in it, and some ability to relate, it validated the anxiety and trauma I’d felt. It was really satisfying to find this ability that I have in high pressure situations to survive. I was able to find a meaningful place to channel my hypervigilance and awareness.

I enjoy the mystery or puzzle of trying to figure out what’s going on with a person. I also care quite a bit about social justice and felt it was important to try and give some resources to under-resourced populations. It’s a full circle moment to be able to help people with things that I couldn’t help myself with when I was young”

How do you connect with someone who’s particularly shut down? Any success stories you want to share?

“I try to meet someone where they are and respect their history before trying to address the present. I’ve gained a lot of skills in ERP, DBT, CBT, but the one I identify with most is a straight Rogerian perspective. I try to be the calmest person in the room and be authentic, generally that works. I go really hard on relationships and I like Viktor Frankl’s existential theory defining meaning. If you can find meaning and get your actions to line up with your values, you’ll have an easier time figuring out what you want. What do you really care about, and why do you care?

I have a couple residents who come to mind, actually my first two clients at Mountain Valley. One wasn’t really leaving the house much and was very dependent on their parents. They had a lot of learned behaviors that were kind of arrested development. We were able to identify that they were on the autism spectrum, which was missed for years and years. We helped get their function up and they agreed to attend boarding school, now they’re doing really well.

My other resident had really bad OCD, to the point where she couldn’t think or do school work. We identified PTSD from the family system and OCD that was learned from the family. The family did some work, and she found out that she could function. It’s especially satisfying when I can help clients not only feel better, but also contribute big things that they were unable to do before.”

Your wife recently joined you at Mountain Valley. What is that like and what are your future goals?

“My wife and I have a good working relationship—I’m feeling pretty well adjusted and she’s newer in her journey. Mountain Valley is a really nice place to work, it’s healthy and balanced for the most part. It’s fascinating to see what kind of work you can get done with a serious number of resources, which were kind of theoretical at other places I worked.

We’re excited about helping Mountain Valley become more trauma-informed. Looking to the future growth of Mountain Valley, we want to use the skills we’ve gained in other settings to help give more diverse folks access to residential care, especially those with less privilege.”

You’ve lived in many different places. What do you think of the Upper Valley?

“The pros of the Upper Valley are of course, beautiful nature and access to hiking, biking, all the things. In some ways it’s nice to be in the middle of nowhere and you get nature to yourself. It’s peaceful and quiet. I feel like I’m healing from working in some violent city settings. We’re kind of permanently camping in an RV, and it makes me feel more connected to the land.

The biggest drawbacks are lack of diversity and some close-mindedness that you encounter. But overall, it’s good because it allows you to really think about what’s important to you and it pushes you on personal growth and development.”

MOVING MOUNTAINS

Resources

FILTER

Staff Spotlight: Becca Winant

Posted on by Sarah Shebek

A Familiar Face 

As one of the longest-tenured employees at Mountain Valley, Becca Winant knows her way around the program. She’s one of the faces of admissions, a key piece in organizing the annual alumni reunion, and has served in many roles over the years, including Wellness & Yoga Teacher and Residential Supervisor. She’s passionate about health and wellness education and believes in the power of movement and mindfulness to improve anxiety. Becca’s newest role is mom of two as her family welcomed a second daughter recently—and as her life changes, she knows she’ll always stay connected to the Mountain Valley family.

Tell us about your background?

“I was born and raised in New Hampshire. I went to college at Plymouth State University and that’s where my husband and I met. We rooted in White Mountains regions for some time and then before I had my first daughter, Amelia, we moved to the Lakes region.

Throughout college I practiced yoga and during my senior year, I pursued the Yoga Teacher Training certification (YTT 200). I started teaching in the community and continued taking other certifications in mindfulness. Yoga has always been there for me to help get into that body connection. I played volleyball in college and being active has always helped soothe my own anxiety.

Once I graduated, I started to explore other career options and discovered Mountain Valley in 2015. The opportunity to work with teenagers with anxiety really kind of drew me there. I figured I’d had some expertise with my own anxiety, so I wanted to see what working in the mental health field was all about. I started off as a residential counselor on the back half shift in 2016.”

What has your time at Mountain Valley looked like over the years?

“When I started working at Mountain Valley, I had the opportunity to lead some physical wellness modules and pretty quickly moved into the day shift. Then I created a health and wellness module with a focus on yoga and meditation for all our residents. That was a big part of what I did for several years. It was awesome since I graduated with a health education and promotion degree and had the yoga mindfulness background as well.

I got to take residents off campus, and we’d go on all sorts of adventures throughout New Hampshire—hiking, apple picking, outdoor yoga, river trips. I loved that part of the job, getting them into different interests and hobbies. I also worked as a residential supervisor before transitioning to my current role as admissions manager.”

Tell us about your role in admissions, what you enjoy and a challenge you face?

“I love having the opportunity to try something completely different. I found a passion working on the outside with prospective families and residents. Because I’ve been at Mountain Valley for so many years, I have a lot of program insight I can share with them.

I find so much enjoyment in bringing families and prospective residents on campus for a tour and I have a lot of confidence to talk about Mountain Valley. I know the ins and outs, and families find that really helpful.

Sometimes we run into a difficult situation where a new resident shuts down right before they come in to enroll. It can be a struggle to get them on campus and that can be a little tricky to navigate, but we have a good team. I find it’s helpful to just meet them where they are, and I work with Everett and Zack to help coach the parents. Usually, it’s a matter of giving them some time and space, and you can also connect them to a previous or current resident to build a bit more trust.”

What’s been your favorite thing about working at Mountain Valley?

“Probably teaching yoga. I always thought it was super meaningful to get an individual on a mat and sit for a mindfulness meditation. I could guide them in breathwork and we could talk about the experience together. It made me feel like I directly helped the residents and made a difference. I also loved taking residents off campus for activities—seeing them smiling and excited as we tried different things.”

How has Mountain Valley changed over your time here?

“So many different ways! First and foremost I think our location is without a doubt, just incredible—the amount of space we have and how all our buildings are together. We have a beautiful campus for all the different weekly programming and it makes a huge difference. Obviously offering the different therapeutic activity modules continue to evolve and change. The decision to add farm animals to campus is a huge, wonderful benefit, since the residents actively participate in their care. Integrating occupational therapy has been a big win as well. It’s been a creative way to add new kinds of exposure work.”

As a local native who lives in the Lakes Region, which lake is your favorite?

“Newfound Lake. We live right down the road, and it’s said to have some of the cleanest water of any lake in the world. It’s also one of the deepest lakes in New Hampshire!”

MOVING MOUNTAINS

Resources

FILTER

Staff Spotlight: Cody Nance

Posted on by Sarah Shebek

Engaging Sincerely With The World

Cody Nance serves as residential supervisor on the day shift. Whether he’s having a long conversation with a resident or cuddling one of the resident farm animals, Cody brings a connected presence that adds genuine warmth to the Mountain Valley environment. Cody has worked at Mountain Valley for four years but originally lived a long way from New Hampshire. Fortunately, he found his way to New England for a job that he calls “the best thing I’ve ever done.”

Tell us about your background?

“I’m from Fort Worth, Texas. I started college hoping to get a degree in journalism so I could be a movie critic, but that didn’t quite pan out. I ended up getting a degree in general studies and bounced around after that doing a lot of things.

I was access services supervisor for a college library in Florida. I was a security guard for a zoo and two hospitals. I’ve trained dogs, and I guess the most pertinent job experience was working as a CPS case worker. It gave me a lot of experience prioritizing what matters when you deal with a person. I had done a lot of very public facing customer service type stuff that allowed me to interact with strangers. Working in child protective services allowed me to fine tune those skills. I always endeavor to help people feel if they’ve been engaged with sincerely.

We moved to New England when my wife ended up getting a job at Dartmouth in human resources at the library. I was looking for a job on Indeed and Mountain Valley popped up. I saw I could work with animals and young people and I was sold—it’s been four years since then.”

Cody Nance

What does a typical day look like for you?

“I come in and touch base with the rest of the day shift staff. I’ve generally already made the schedule for the day, but I fine tune it with what I see on the calendar that day and run it by clinicians. I help stewardship get underway and sometimes I am in stewardship. If we have an intake coming, I will help prepare the materials necessary, or if a resident’s graduating, I help get the materials for them to leave.

After stewardship I feel like I can be anywhere doing anything. I try to be kind of a glue person and bridge gapes wherever I can and whenever I’m able.”

What’s the most challenging and most rewarding part of your work?

“Most challenging is knowing when to step back. Anyone here could tell you that I struggle to tell the difference between reassurance and general sharing of positive information. I tend to be a little too helpful in that regard.

The most rewarding is getting to play any part in the journeys of the residents here and help them in any way I can. It’s enormously rewarding to be a stable and consistent part of their lives. Just getting to know them, spend time with them, and be of assistance to them. It’s one of my favorite things that I’ve ever done.”

Do you have a specific memory of working with a resident?

“Not so long ago we had a resident who tended to get stuck and would spend a lot of time in their bathroom. This came at a time when I was able to step away from things that I was usually doing and embrace other responsibilities. I wound up with more time than I’d had in the past.

I found myself in their room very frequently, lying on the ground, kind of speaking into the crack under the bathroom door so they could hear me. We’d talk for long periods of time and try to go through their process. In that very delicate and private setting, they trusted me enough to really let me in. They did end up graduating, and I definitely lost it on their grad day.

That is very much the kind of experience that makes Mountain Valley the only place I have ever enjoyed working. It’s easily the best thing I’ve ever done.”

You’re a big animal lover and frequently interacting with the farm animals. What draws you to animals specifically?

“The relationship I have with animals is the foundation for the positive relationship I have with myself. The love that I have had for animals, spending time nurturing them, that has allowed me to extend myself to others. I’ve had dogs all my life and even had a pet pig at one point. I’m only able to show up for residents the way that I am because I have spent so long with animals.

I think there’s so much connective tissue between the oxen, for example, and the residents. I feel we have so much more in common than we have different. I’m not really a spiritual person, but I feel we are all kind of one.”

You originally wanted to be a movie critic. What’s your favorite movie?

“It would have to be the third Exorcist movie. I’ve gone through so much of my life not knowing what I wanted to do with myself, feeling listless and useless. The Exorcist movies are really about the value and blessing of clarity of purpose—knowing what is valuable and what is worth your time and efforts. It has meant increasingly more to me as the years have gone by.”

MOVING MOUNTAINS

Resources

FILTER

Staff Spotlight: Dara Spezial

Posted on by Sarah Shebek

The Incredible Brain 

A relatively new addition to the Mountain Valley Team, Dara Spezial, MS, OTR/L, serves as milieu clinician. She uses her extensive background as an occupational therapist to help residents rebuild routines, strengthen self-efficacy, and reconnect with the activities that bring purpose and grounding. The Massachusetts College for Pharmacy and Health Science recently recognized Dara’s passion for teaching with the Outstanding Fieldwork Educator Award, honoring her for work with students at local colleges in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. We caught up with Dara to learn more about her work on Mountain Valley’s growing OT team.

Tell us about your background?

“I knew I wanted to be an occupational therapist pretty early on. I actually did OT myself as a kid because I had a really hard time learning to walk and talk. It was kind of a passion by proxy, learning so much early on in my youth. I ended up at Ithaca College in New York and met Camille Wrege, who was in my same year. She’s my best friend and was my maid of honor at my wedding. We both fell in love with mental health and had a passion for it. We ran a mindfulness club in college which was great, but I didn’t know how to integrate OT into mental health as a career. It was always in the back of my brain.

I ended up working in geriatrics and the work is very fast, which is awesome. For the past six or seven years I’ve been in nursing homes and hospitals, assisted living facilities and homes, doing home care, inpatient, and outpatient work. It’s been fortunate that my employers have seen my passion for the field and they’ve expanded my job opportunities to include fieldwork education with students. I recently received the Outstanding Fieldwork Educator Award for my work with students at local colleges in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. I truly love teaching and educating about occupational therapy.”

Dara Spezial

How did you end up at Mountain Valley?

“I burned out at my previous job. It had massive productivity standards and was very focused on the bottom line. In June I quit and decided to look at what I could do next. I got my ergonomics certification and did some contracting on the side. My husband and I also bought a house after we fell in love with the Upper Valley.

I contacted Camille and said ‘Hey, I know you love your job. Is there any way I could come for a day and see what it’s all about?’ I got to come in and shadow and I fell fully in love with Mountain Valley. This is what I went to school for—this is why I want to be an OT. The team has been outstanding and allowed me to have incredible opportunities so quickly in my milieu clinician role. It’s a very special place where we can have freedom in our work.”

Tell us about how your work complements that of the other occupational therapists, Camille and Renee?

“It’s incredible that we have four occupational therapists, including executive director Zack Schafer, when it previously was just Camille and Zack. Camille was doing groups and individual sessions, and it was getting wild as the program expanded. She just needed a hand, so Renee came in and they realized that residents needed individual OT sessions every week. Therapy and OT complement each other so much.

At almost the same time, the former milieu support specialist Kelsey decided to leave for an incredible opportunity at the VA. Mountain Valley needed someone to lead groups, and I jumped in. They also needed someone in the milieu to help with those smaller OT things like if someone’s in actively in a compulsion, I can support them through an occupational therapy lens. I get to educate other residential staff and be that person a lot of the time to get everyone on the same page with what’s happening in our OT work.”

What’s your favorite part about working with the residents at Mountain Valley?

“Their brains are incredible. I’m also kind of a neuro nerd, and I would see a lot of neuro plasticity in the pediatric population I loved early on. When I was in the geriatric work, I had a lot of patients with dementia—that side is fascinating but it’s repetitive work with the same interventions, because the research shows that’s most effective.

Every day is so different here, I love that feeling of the unexpected. I can pivot when I’m working with residents. This worked yesterday but didn’t today. You can see the wheels turning and the light turn on in front of you. It’s incredible, and that feeling is why I got into the health profession. I love helping them grow and learn, and I get to facilitate that every day.”

Tell us about your work with OT modules?

“I lead three to four modules in a week, which often focus on exposures for our residents. For example, the other week we had two residents with contamination anxiety plunge their hands into the dirt while we planted seeds in a gardening module, and everyone was cheering. It was so cool to see them sit with the discomfort and actively do some response prevention while they also engaged with the earth.

With OT groups, I try to match the ERP schedule, but I put more of an OT spin on things. Yesterday residents learned about the four different communication styles, and we did a fun activity where we had them draw pictures on their partner’s backs. It’s nonverbal communication but you can still clearly communicate. The residents loved it and it spun off into a massive game of telephone.

On Friday I lead creative expression, which is really where I encourage them to find that flow state and enjoy some art. Make it free and find some joy while also maybe working on a contamination exposure around paint, for example.”

Where do you see yourself in five years?

“Definitely still at Mountain Valley. I would love to take on more leadership roles, whatever it looks like in the future. I can see where we’re headed and it’s such a beautiful picture—I want to be a part of it.”

What do you like to do for fun in your free time?

“My schedule is really nice because I work 7:30-3 pm, whereas at my previous job I was working 12-hour shifts. Now that my husband and I have a home, I get to garden and we’re revamping our backyard. We live right next to a lake, and we love kayaking in warmer weather. I’m also looking forward to checking out the local trails!”

MOVING MOUNTAINS

Resources

FILTER

Staff Spotlight: Katharine Call

Posted on by Sarah Shebek

From Podiums to Psychology 

Clinician Katharine Call knows pressure. As a world-class athlete in cross country ski racing, she pushed herself to be the best and frequently came out on top. But that pressure kept her from living a balanced life, so she stepped down from the sport to focus on helping others. Now she uses her experience to help challenge and support her clients—and cheers on her Olympian brother as he continues Vermont’s dominance in the sport.

Tell us about your background?

“I grew up in southern Vermont in a town called Landgrove. It is very small—the population is less than 200. I was very focused on ski racing for most of my childhood and I went to Stratton Mountain Academy for high school. I ski raced in college and skied on the U.S. National Team for a bit.

I got into skiing because my dad did, but most people also skied in the area where I lived. Even my babysitter as a kid was on the U.S. National Team for cross country skiing.”

Katharine Skiing

 You won three national championships skiing at Dartmouth. What was the best part about that experience?

“I really enjoyed all the college racing. The collegiate circuit is the only one where you’re competing as a team and your scores are adding up so one team wins. It was so special to me, and the team of women I raced with in college was very healthy and supportive.

When I was competing, Dartmouth didn’t have a venue to host the national championships, so the University of Vermont hosted my sophomore year. So many people I knew were there cheering us on. It was great to be there with all the people I love and care about.

Dartmouth can’t give scholarships so we’re generally a bit of an underdog in athletics, compared to schools that can recruit with full-ride scholarships. We didn’t win the team championship, but we came close, and it was special to be working for a crazy huge goal.”

What did you consider for your career outside of ski racing?

“I liked racing and was good at it, but it isn’t a long-term career. I decided to attend Dartmouth and major in psychology. I liked a lot of the classes that were about inequity in the education system and specifically how financial status and poverty affect education and life outcomes.

I wanted to work one-on-one with people, specifically kids who needed it. I decided to go into social work and leave the door open to go into mental health or more of an advocacy space.”

How do you think your background as a high-level athlete helps you in the field of psychology?

“When I started learning more about therapeutic modalities like distress tolerance, it all felt obvious to me. Just doing the thing, basically, I could relate to that. As an athlete there’s a lot of in the moment pain for later gain. Like interval training for example, it’s putting your body in a distressing situation and learning to tolerate it. I think that mentality of working hard was helpful to me.

As an athlete, I also had challenges with anxiety. It was a constant thing where I loved ski racing, but anxiety sometimes got in the way of me enjoying it. I really related to Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and the idea of making decisions based on what you value rather than what you’re scared of. I think that was the most important thing for me as I moved forward, really figuring out to prioritize how to make decisions based on what I cared about.

Ultimately that’s why I stopped ski racing. I realized to pursue that career, I had to live a pretty ‘me-centric’ life. It didn’t feel aligned with my values at the time. I wanted to learn and grow, as well as have my friends and family be my number one priority. Rather than worrying about missing training or worrying about getting sick, or whatever else.”

Katharine Call

How did you end up at Mountain Valley?

“I came to Mountain Valley literally the week after I got my master’s diploma from Columbia University. During grad school, I got experience working at a non-profit with people who have experienced domestic violence and sexual assault, in an advocate and crisis management role. I also worked at the VA in case management.

As school came to close, I was applying to every job I could find within reason. But I saw the clinician position at Mountain Valley, and it was immediately the one I wanted. I went on their website and saw everything that had possibly been a career interest of mine looped into one place. Adventure therapy, exposure response prevention, the adolescent population, it was so aligned with what I wanted to be doing. In fact, I thought the posting was a scam at first because it sounded so perfect, so I was surprised when Zack responded to me.

I do feel like Zack, Everett and the team took a pretty big chance on me since I didn’t have a lot of work history in mental health. But I think since Zack also completed at the collegiate level, he was able to see how some of my background would be uniquely beneficial in a way that I didn’t even see yet.”

Tell me about your work in Exposure-Response Prevention?

“With my personal experience doing ERP around my own anxiety, I have a lot of empathy for how difficult it is. I’m a strong believe in challenge by choice and I want to make sure the kids get to choose their exposures. It’s a highlight of my job.

One example that stands out is a client I had with severe contamination OCD. She was willing to do the exposures but would beat herself up after the fact. Like “Well if I was normal, this wouldn’t have even been an exposure.” She struggled to celebrate the fact that she was doing something hard.

For her ordeal we decided on a series of three different very challenging OCD exposures. We had all the community come cheer her on, chanting her name and clapping. I was bumping music and playing “This Girl is On Fire.”

For her first exposure she picked a strawberry up off the tennis court and ate it. Then she threw away all her soap, hand sanitizer and Lysol wipes while everyone cheered goodbye. Finally, we rolled out the compost bin, and she plunged both hands into it!

It was iconic, everyone went wild. I was sobbing and it was such a memorable day.”

Back to skiing for one more question. Your brother, Ben Ogden, recently won two silver medals for Team USA at the Olympics. What has that experience been like for you?

“I’ve been so stoked. It’s been so fun to see. The coolest part about it, from my perspective, is that when I raced, I really struggled with balancing it and making it healthy. Ben has done that. He is the most selfless person I know, and he doesn’t compromise anything he cares about. I admire it so much.

He has so many people in his life that love him and he makes sure he makes time for all of them. To be able to ski at such a high level and not give up your life, it gives me goosebumps to even talk about.”

MOVING MOUNTAINS

Resources

FILTER

Staff Spotlight: Kate Sheldrick

Posted on by Sarah Shebek

No Place Like Home 

At Mountain Valley, residential counselors are immersed in the life of milieu, serving as safe, reliable figures for our residents as they navigate each day of programming. Kate Sheldrick brings a calming presence and years of experience to the team, and she brings plenty of local knowledge as an Upper Valley native. After considering careers in education and nursing, Kate’s currently focused on pursuing a degree in mental health and finds joy in helping residents on their journeys.

Tell us about your background?

“I’m from Quechee, Vermont and grew up in the area. I did leave the Upper Valley for a bit to do van life in Hawaii with my partner at the time. It was cool short-term to experience the culture, but I came back after a few months.

My mom had an at-home daycare, so I’ve been around kids my whole life. When I came back home, I worked at another daycare and started to do some early childhood education courses at a local community college. Then COVID happened and I’d decided to pursue pre-requisites for a nursing degree. I needed a job while I did that, so I applied as an overnight residential counselor at Mountain Valley.”

What made you decide to stay at Mountain Valley?  

“I ended up learning a lot about my own mental health in the process of working overnights. It made me realize that nursing wasn’t where I wanted to go exactly. The mental health field piqued my interest. I’m not great at choosing a career path, but I’m definitely focused on a something in psychology or social work—continuing to give back to my community.”

What does a typical day look like for you?

“I help facilitate club time, and we try to get the residents’ input on what type of clubs they like so they can look forward to it. We offer everything from slime club, to craft club, to improv. The most popular club is board game club, and I think games are great for starting interactions. It’s one of the easiest ways to break the ice with a new resident or people sitting outside the group. Residents get really into it and it’s fun to be competitive in a healthy sense. My favorites are Scattegories and Bananagrams.

I also facilitate stewardship, which could be working on the farm, in the kitchen, or organizing the common areas. I’ll eat dinner with the residents and make sure they’re on top of their laundry and medications. Before bed they have free time, and that’s when I really connect with residents on the mental health side. I get their objectives and help them process the day—it can be tough, so I want to support them.”

What’s the most rewarding part of the job for you?

“I love the residents and seeing them grow in their mental health and as a person, hearing their stories and opinions, and learning their different ways of life. It’s very fulfilling when one of the kids just tells you how much you’ve been able to help them, even if you feel like you’ve not necessarily succeeded in every way.”

What’s your perspective on the Upper Valley as a local?

“I always get the question of why I’m still here, and I enjoy that it’s a safe, family type environment. Most of our kids come from a cities or more populated areas, so I get to offer an insight that there isn’t always stuff to do and boredom is okay. Plus, I’ve got all the restaurants and activities covered for the local visits.”

What do you like to do for fun when you’re not working? 

“I like warmer weather, and in the summer, I like to paddle board in the local lakes or ponds with my pug. Either I’m doing that or hiking. I also like to try new food places outside the area, and I like art. I enjoy crafting, painting, and drawing, so it’s fun to be able to do that with the residents in our clubs.”

What would you say to someone who feels uncertain about joining Mountain Valley?

“I would tell them that it doesn’t hurt to try, and I would remind them that this is something a lot of new residents go through. I can try and be there and process and coach them through it. The people here are supportive and understanding. They’ve been through this already, so I would encourage them to lean on their peers and remind them that they are in a safe space to figure it out. It doesn’t have to feel like the right decision right now.”

© 2026 MVTC EDC. All rights reserved.

Privacy policy