My name is Ari and I am a third-year doctoral student in the couple and family therapy program at Antioch University New England. I chose to pursue a PhD at Antioch because the intentional divergence from traditional academic programs and dedication to social justice. Just as when I chose to enlist, in coming to Antioch, I made a commitment to myself to set forth on a path to be changed. I began the program an associate-level clinician working towards licensure in the background of serving on active duty in the Army at the United States Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases. I brought with me dreams of learning to integrate the climate crisis into my clinical work, gaining experience teaching at the graduate level, learning to become a clinical supervisor, and pursuing personally meaningful research endeavors.

The past two years have been fraught with expected and unexpected challenges. I have been stretched in ways that facilitated growth personally and professionally. I shed incongruent and unneeded identities and roles to make space for becoming more fully who I am and want to be. Each semester, I was encouraged to explore different paths that are life-giving passions of mine. Working towards the advancement of ecotherapy has been discouraging at times due to the emerging status of the approach; however, the constant support of Antioch’s faculty has been affirming, a steady reminder that I bring value to the field and my endeavors are worthwhile.

I have an embodied sense that my time in this program has truly been transformative. I am now a licensed marriage and family therapist, a licensed mental health counselor, and hold a certification in ecotherapy. My family and I are thriving and deeply grateful to have made our way back home to Washington. I have an established private practice in Seattle where I offer telehealth and ecotherapy. Themes that cut across all the new roles I stepped into include radical connection, collaboration, a respect for the natural world, and honoring our shared humanity. It has been a privilege to be walking this path, and one that I am excited to continue moving forward on. When I think of graduation, I think of reaching the summit of a mountain that was necessary for me to ascend. I have been on an expedition of becoming the human I want to be in this messy world. My hope is to remind others through my clinical work, supervision, research, and teaching that we are all humans who have gifts to share with each other and the wild natural world around us, which we are part of. As my time at Antioch winds down, I imagine myself and those who have graciously been part of my story embarking on a new venture. Earning my PhD will spark the beginning of committing the rest of my life to confidently walking myself and guiding others back home to our humanity. There may be a lot of uncertainty in these times, but as Joanna Macy says, “what a time to be alive!”