Today we’d like to introduce you to Tanya Hessong.
Hi Tanya, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I am a Clinical Social Worker, licensed in Kansas and Missouri. I attended Pittsburg State University in Pittsburg, KS for my undergraduate degree, and I subsequently earned my Master’s Degree from Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio, TX. Since moving to the Kansas City area in 1999, I’ve worked primarily in community mental health and private practice settings.
I have provided several trainings on varying mental health issues for the community, including suicide prevention, awareness and resiliency. I was a certified Mental Health First Aid trainer for 5 years. I served on the Johnson County NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Board of Directors for 2 years as well as the Kansas Law Enforcement CIT (Crisis Intervention Team) Council for 9 years. I have also served as a certified Sources of Strength trainer in area schools.
I further have extensive experience in crisis assessments and coordinating with community partners when someone is experiencing a mental health emergency. I served as the Emergency Services Director in Johnson County, managing several crisis teams, including Access, Mobile Crisis Response, After Hours, Crisis Recovery Center and the Mental health Co-Responder programs in collaboration with several Johnson County Police Departments. In total, I served in various clinical and administrative roles in Community Mental Health Centers in Johnson and Wyandotte Counties for 16 years. These were incredibly formative years of my life.
Since 2016, I have transitioned to private practice. It is truly my honor to work alongside everyone’s unique journey, and I enjoy providing outpatient therapy to adolescents, young adults and adults in all stages of life, families and couples. I work with issues including relationship difficulties, depression, anxiety, life transitions, traumas and impacts, parenting concerns, women and men’s issues, grief and loss, and overall self-esteem struggles. I also provide support to the LGBTQA+ community. My pronouns are she/her.
My hope is for all clients to find the right fit in therapy with unconditional acceptance that offers hope, help and strength. I am guided by core values and ethics of my profession. I am passionate to help people in need, help navigate relationships, support social justice, and respect all people and diversity while providing a safe and healing space.
While my certified therapy dog and co-therapist, Ellen (a rescue dog from Topeka, KS), is now enjoying retirement from a career she loved, she will forever be an example of the healing impact of therapy animals. I am passionate about animal rescue overall, and Ellen has not only been a joy personally, she has been a significant part of my professional journey. She was the definitely always the most in demand one of our co-therapy team!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
This is a tough question! Like I’ve indicated, it has been such an honor to do the work I do. I would not call it smooth, but I would not change a thing. In my earlier career starting at Wyandot Center in KCK, I learned more than I would have ever imagined. I was part of opening their first walk in crisis clinic with my career mentor, Tonja Speer, and I recall saying to others that work was like arriving for the day, sprinting as fast as possible all day long, often having no idea what to do in unbelievable situations, and then leaving at the end of the day with more growth, questions and exhaustion imaginable. Working in community mental health emergency services for 16 years definitely shaped who I am as a professional and as a social worker. It provided me with more grit than I thought possible, and it opened my eyes on worlds and struggles that I had not known before.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I launched my own solo private practice in 2021. When I say I love my job, I love my job. My favorite part is working with people of all ages and with diverse such life stories. I must also say that I am in awe of young people and those shaping our future. Talk about learning from our youth!
I also became more interested in providing therapy with couples in the past decade. I find this work to be fascinating and a true joy to help people navigate their relationships with authentic intentions, empathy and validation – “to help people see and hear each other with new eyes and new ears.” There was a time I felt more like a mediator and stuck on how to help in meaningful ways, and with more training, specifically becoming certified in Imago Relationship Therapy, I find it to be so fulfilling. Connection is everything, and I love being a small part of helping others in their own important connections.
My hope is for all clients to find the right fit in therapy with unconditional acceptance that offers hope, help and strength. I am guided by core values and ethics of my profession. I am passionate to help people in need, help navigate relationships, support social justice, and respect all people and diversity while providing a safe and healing space. Being a social worker comes with great responsibility and opportunity to make a difference, and I want to show up in a way that matters in the lives of people. Even if I can’t solve every problem, I hope I am part of what makes life better and am a place where people are genuinely heard and validated.
I also provide contract work with Prairie Sky Counseling Center as a Clinical Coordinator. I find this organization to be a breath of fresh air. PSCC offers whole-person mental health care that honors every unique story and supports emotional, mental, and spiritual well-being. “At Prairie Sky Counseling Center, our values guide everything we do. We hold hope as a foundation for healing, believing in each person’s ability to thrive. We foster holistic well-being, nurturing mental, emotional, and spiritual health. Committed to excellence, we provide high-quality, evidence-based care tailored to each individual. Inclusion ensures everyone feels welcomed, respected, and valued in our space. Lastly, we embrace collaboration, recognizing that meaningful change happens when we journey together.” You may find my information here: https://www.prairieskycc.org/our-team. I would encourage you to read about this organization on their website. Incredible leadership, incredible providers, and incredible resource for our community.
I’m always a work in progress myself of course. I strive to listen to everyone’s story fully without judgment and to truly offer a place of security. When I find roadblocks in doing this, I try to take the time to figure out what the struggle is for me, and I want to grow from these places.
It’s a hard time right now for so many; I know that’s a massive understatement. We can all agree it’s a struggle nationally right now no matter the belief system of why. I know my personal privileges, and I feel deeply called to do my part learning about struggles and and to be a part of what helps. It is such a critical time in my profession to show up and to use our voices and support all people. I am particularly struck by the primary and secondary traumas happening each day all day long, and I want to be a part of what helps us all. I strive to be a protective part of the landscape. I don’t always know what that means, but it drives me and keeps me up at night.
What has been the most important lesson you’ve learned along your journey?
Never stop learning. I say that all the time. Learning and being open to being wrong is a super power. I learn not only through required ongoing education for my clinical license, but more importantly working with clients, showing up with curiosity and compassion, and listening to my own children, loved ones all around, and strangers who I meet. When I meet with clients for the first time, I want them to feel hope, safe, and compassion. Sometimes people are sharing their stories for the first time, and it is such an honor to be that landing space. I don’t ever want to lose sight of that. In my world overall, it is important to me to see the world through curious lenses. I am human, and I have my own barriers. I want to keep understanding these barriers and keep it moving forward. I also want to be a voice for people who are vulnerable even when sometimes this doesn’t make me popular and even when my voice may shake.
Pricing:
- $150 Therapy Sessions
- I also take several insurances in my private practice..
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.tanyahessong.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tanya-hessong-823b1a7/
- Other: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/tanya-hessong-therapy-overland-park-ks/1679173
