Therapist Spotlight: Erica Caparelli

What inspired you to be a clinician? Tell us how you got here.

Spiritually, I believe people have a purpose and that’s inherent to their being. For me, I’ve always felt that I have a gift with people, just connecting with people, and being down to earth, and seeing the goodness in all people, in everyone I meet.  I think that’s important for a therapist, and that’s part of what brought me here.

I also have a family member who was diagnosed with a severe mental illness.  Growing up in that environment was intense—for lack of a better word.  My sister and I grew up very close, and we worked hard to navigate the mental health system just to get our family member the care that they needed.  And seeing all the barriers to care along the way—not just for our family members but for us as children moving through the mental health system, that very much motivated me to do both clinical and political work.

Yes, can you tell me about some of your activism?

Right now, I do work with an activist group centered around labor justice.  The overarching goal is to unionize the social service workers field.  It isn’t just about advocacy for social workers or other clinicians who are licensed and formally educated; it’s also for folks who work with people and self-identify as social service workers. I’ve gotten more into labor justice over the past few years, whereas before that, I was doing work around community education.

What’s important about social service workers organizing, aside from a fair wage?

The history of service work is very gendered.  Historically, it’s been ‘women’s work.’  It hasn’t been considered formal labor, and so it’s been undervalued.  When we look at the social service field today, we still primarily see women who perform this work. Another important element is how the field has been racialized. You have lots of white women advancing in their careers, but then you have lots of people of color who aren’t moving up as steadily. When we workers come together to unite in solidarity, we create collective power and can use this power to achieve equity and self-determination in the field.

What’s your favorite part about being a therapist?

The best part about being a therapist is when I’m working with a client and I feel like we’re truly, truly on the same page.  When they have a goal, and I truly hear their goal—and they know that I hear their goal, and the power is equalized.  There's vulnerability, and there’s honesty.  That moment of connection with them is amazing.

It sounds like you’re describing a kind of communion.

That’s a nice way to put it. I like that.

Do you recall a moment in particular where you were communing with someone in this way?

I feel like I do that with everyone in my life.  I’m very picky with who I include in my bubble, and I really do feel this way when I talk to anyone in my life, which is a blessing.  

There’s a lot of talk about self-care.  How do you practice self-care?

I love being outside.  Being in nature is wonderful.  I meditate daily which is essential for my self-care.  I also like gratitude-listing with my meditation.  And I make art.  I make jewelry.  That’s what I’ve been doing lately.  I’ve been doing metal work and it's been a lot of fun.  

I also love watching TV and binge-watching stupid horror movies—the worst horror movies you can imagine.  The really really corny ones, the ones where you’re like, “I can’t believe this is even out in the world!”  I love watching those. [laughter]

Since we’re on the topic, what are some of your favorite books or favorite shows?

One of my favorite books is Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.  My sister got me a really nice copy from Portugal.  I think it’s beautifully written. Also, Mary Shelley was 19 when she wrote it??  That’s so inspiring.  It makes me feel like I can do anything.  But it’s funny, because I’m also a pretty slow reader. And I think that’s why I love Frankenstein, because it's beautiful, and I like to read every single word, s-l-o-w-l-y.  [laughter]

As for shows, The Handmaid’s Tale. I love that show. 

I’ve had clients dream about that show.  

It has a horror dimension that I appreciate, but the story is powerful.  How it foregrounds the genocide of women and sexual violence; these issue are unfortunately all too pertinent. For instance, it just came out about ICE in the news today—did you read that?  How ICE has been giving women hysterectomies in detention centers without giving women informed consent.  It’s sick.  So yes, the story is powerful and all too relevant to our current circumstances, unfortunately.

It’s an outrage.  How would you say your idea of the Big Picture changed in doing this work?

I embrace much more the idea of honoring people’s experience.  I’ve picked this up working in the field and through my education, having learned about the abuse of institutional power and about inequality more generally.  I think about how medical professionals used to lock folks away in psychiatric institutions where they were being horrifically treated.  It still happens in our criminal justice system, or even now with ICE.  Too often there have been medical professionals who’ve treated their patients horrifically but they thought they were doing the right thing, because it was deemed socially acceptable, or it had political backing.  And every field has its politics.  In the field of social work, there are folks who view it as a scientific, clinical pursuit.  But then there are also folks who approach it with more humility, and who court the possibility that they don’t always ‘know’ what’s best for a patient, and they recognize that they could actually be doing more harm than good with their interventions. 

Also, I’m drawing on my own experiences as a patient in the health care system.  Being treated—not infrequently—like I don’t know anything.  Going into a doctor’s office and not being believed about what’s going on in my own body.  It’s happened so many times!  Especially as a woman, being told by male doctors that you don’t know what you’re talking about.  And being told you have to take a certain medication because it’s the ‘only solution’—whether it’s birth control or anything else.  And so, as a therapist, I’ve thought, ‘This sucks! I don’t want to be a therapist like this!"  It’s awful!  [laughter]

You prefer to rely on the expertise of the client you’re working with.

Absolutely.

What’s a personal challenge you’ve overcome that you feel make you a better therapist?

Well, I’ve gone through school systems that have made people, including myself, feel victimized for their circumstances.  I will not do that as a therapist.  I will never make someone feel guilty for their circumstances. And I feel that’s made me a better person having had those experiences.

Also, I’m a person in recovery.  I’m in mental health recovery.  I’m in drug and alcohol recovery.  I’m in sexual violence recovery.  And so, I know what it’s like to be in recovery.  It’s really hard.  It’s not easy.  No one ever said it was easy.  I’m not going to lie to my clients and say it’s easy.  It’s very difficult, but it’s beautiful. 

I think the deeper we go through pain, the deeper we go through joy and happiness—and Love.