September Rising Star: Ashley Barker, LPC

Uwill’s Monthly Rising Star is a new program that acknowledges one counselor every month who has “shined bright” in support of Uwill in their first year at Uwill. Congratulations Ashley Barker, LPC! Since joining the Uwill team, Ashley has completed over 500 sessions across Michigan.

Check out our interview with Ashley where she explains why she loves connecting with students all over Michigan, how Uwill complements her job as a school counselor, and advice for students struggling with midterm exams.

What would you say excites you the most about working with Uwill?
Meeting all of the different students from across the state. I can be talking with somebody who’s in the U.P., and then 30 minutes later I’m talking with somebody who’s in southeastern Michigan and then I’m talking to someone who might live in the same town that I live in. It’s just nice to be able to meet a wide variety of students and work with students that’s not just in my general immediate area.

Can you illustrate the importance of a student being able to access a platform like Uwill?
I feel like Uwill eliminates the barriers that students have for accessing support services. A lot of times, they can’t get into the counseling program on campus, if there is one, in a quick fashion. That discourages you from even having the amount of providers that allows for flexibility of scheduling. And they don’t just have to go during business hours. They could see someone at 10:00 at night if they needed to. They can do it from the comfort of their own dorm or home or car or wherever. They can have their video turned off or turned on. I just feel like it’s very flexible and the student can adapt to what they need and it eliminates the excuses of not getting support.

What aspect of your work would you say that you enjoy the most?
I just love working with the different students. Some of them are 18, just starting in college. Some of them are returning to college later in life, returning to school. It’s just really exciting to have something different. Everybody has different needs that they’re bringing to the table based on where they’re at in life. And so just not having it be the same thing session after session and getting to mix it up.

What is the most important lesson that you’ve learned through your work?
From the very beginning of my career it has been meeting people where they’re at and never assuming that anybody is going to need the same intervention as someone else. It’s very important to be creative and learn how to adapt and apply skills to the person that you’re talking to and what they need most.

What impact has Uwill had on you as a professional?
Uwill allows me to combine my mental health clinical experience and my school counseling experience in one setting which is a pretty beautiful thing. When I am working in K12 schools as a school counselor I get to do that but not to the same extent. Everything’s pretty divided into the compartments and it gives me a chance to work with an older population and apply skills to their real life independence and adult functioning that I don’t get to do in my normal 40-hour-a-week job.

What advice would you have for students, who may be stressed about upcoming midterm exams?
I know you’re freaking out but if you’re stressed your executive functioning skills don’t work. So the importance of taking a moment, grounding yourself back into the present of what you’re doing, and looking at things task by task, item by item, and not discounting what you already know. A lot of times you’re looking at everything you’ve learned from day one to the midterm and thinking you have to relearn it all and your stress is keeping you from realizing you pretty much know about 90% of it to begin with. I would also recommend writing notecards instead of using the online flashcards. You’ll retain the information a lot better and know it more thoroughly if you handwrite your flashcards.

To learn more about becoming a counselor with Uwill, click on the link below.

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