Alumni Spotlight: Amy Mader’s Path To Mental Wealth

AMY MADER IS THE TYPE OF PERSON ONE FEELS LIKE THEY HAVE KNOWN FOR YEARS – She is soft spoken and easy-going, having a laid-back yet humorous demeanor she is not afraid to share when the moment is just right. And while she admits that she has had her fair share of anxieties, one never gets the sense that there is a slightest “flaw” within her. She is the friend that is always ready to share their perfectly-needed advice, the one that is always there to help. It is, quite literally, fitting. She is in fact working to become a licensed social worker after all… would one want her to be anything else personality wise?

Amy Mader first began her path to social work at Brookdale Community College. Having family who attended, and experience with the college through its dual-enrollment program, Amy believed that it was the best option for her to explore her interests. While she was there, she graduated with a history degree, which felt like the right step at the time. But like most college students after graduation, she knew she wanted to do more.

“My mother is a social worker and got her MSW at Monmouth University,” Amy says when asked her about her interest in social work, “When my siblings and I were trying to figure out what we wanted to do [career wise], she always kind of whispered the idea of social work into our ears. I was the one who took the bait.” After hearing her mother out about social work, she attended an informational session for the social work program at Monmouth University. She enjoyed the freedom and expansiveness the field provided – and with the “multicultural view I got from being a history major,” it was a perfect fit.

During her time at Monmouth University, Amy interned with the New Hope Integrated Behavioral Healthcare Center. “That internship for me was a fantastic experience,” she says fondly, “though I must admit I was terrified when I first started there. I was working with teenagers who, quite frankly, scared me. But by the end of it, I was truly everything about it… that internship really helped me learn what it takes to actually just be myself.”

From there, she became certified as Certified Consulting Hypnotist along with her sister and mother – an interest in which she learned from a friend who specializes in Past Life Regression Hypnosis. She also became a Counseling Behavioral Technician, working for Circle Care Services. While she does not fully use hypnotism within her clinical practices yet, she does utilize guided meditations in a similar way. These practices have become tools that allow her patients to relax their brains, and train their brains to understand the triggers that cause their anxieties. They are resources to help you begin to heal.

Amy Mader cares so deeply about these practices because, even outside of her clinical practices, she uses them within her own daily life. “I have my own mental health issues, I have really severe anxiety and moderate to severe depression. It’s definitely really important to talk about mental health, because I know not everyone has a support system to do so. I want to make mental health a less taboo subject. There are always people out there who understand what you are going through and are here to help… and I am glad I get to be that for some people through my work. I am so grateful…”

Amy Mader succeeds in what she does because she does understand, in her own way and perspectives, what someone is going through. She recognizes the importance of wanting to grow and heal through trauma and pain – she has done it many times herself. Amy is not just softspoken and easy-going, but someone who is so strong and constantly growing in their own beautiful way. She is what she preaches, and just perhaps, she would not have it any other way.

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Amy Mader is now finalizing the approval status of her Social Work license. She is currently working at Stress Care of NJ and hopes to obtain her doctorate overseas in the UK.