GRAHAM

Staff Spotlight

Staff Member: Rob Graham, Counselor

By Clare Jensen

Before Rob Graham came to work at Kwawachee Counseling Center four years ago, he had no idea what his future would hold.

After graduating from Michigan State University with a doctorate in clinical psychology, Rob Graham was a little unsure of what his career path would be.

He was debating between a life of research, education or direct care, and after a couple jobs in employee assistance, perfect timing led him to his new home at Kwawachee.

While Rob Graham was working at a local company who provided employee assistance to the Puyallup Tribal Health Authority (PTHA), they invited him to the reservation to learn about Puyallup culture.

Shortly after, his company closed down just as a counseling position at Kwawachee opened up.

“The timing was just right,” he said.

Today, Rob Graham counsels individuals, couples and works with a day treatment group. And he still enjoys partaking in the cultural activities he was introduced to years ago.

In his day treatment group, members smudge, and pass a feather around the talking circle as they share their concerns and stories. In his office, a drum that he made is proudly displayed amongst the Native American art that fills his shelves.

“I really like it here,” he said.

Rob Graham said his favorite part of his job is the people – the staff and clients – that he works with daily. He has built strong relationships with the members of his day treatment group, as well as individual clients, although he said it has been challenging to keep up with the paperwork at times. The new electronic record system at PTHA will help with that. He said he now has about 65 clients, which can mean he has less time to meet with patients as often as he may like to.

“I had the luxury of being able to see people once a week,” he said. “Right now, that is more difficult to do.”

But regardless of the challenges he and others face at Kwawachee with scheduling, Rob Graham finds his work very rewarding.

“To see people in here, when they take what your working on…and apply it to their outside life [is rewarding],” he said.

Rob Graham lives in Auburn with his wife of 22 years and two teenaged daughters. He enjoys playing sports, such as basketball with his girls, and also manages the PTHA co-rec softball team.

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