Rachel Hanks is a clinical social worker and therapist at the Therapeutic Preschool at FamilyForward. She previously had a career in performing and in writing. However, while living the “gig life”, she ended up doing support work at the St. Louis Arc, working closely with teenagers of all abilities. As Rachel continued on in her first careers, she found that she could not stay away from working directly with people to help navigate personal and system barriers towards success. In 2013, she was accepted to the graduate program at the School of Social Work at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. While at UMSL, Rachel was a graduate research assistant with Creating Whole Communities, looking at community-wide initiatives and policies that helped or hindered a neighborhood’s ability to thrive. She did practicums at Casa de Salud and the Children’s Advocacy Services of Greater St. Louis. She also worked as a paraprofessional for Special School District of St. Louis County.
Upon graduating in 2016, Rachel came to work at the Therapeutic Preschool at Family Resource Center (now FamilyForward). The Therapeutic Preschool is an intensive program that provides holistic, non-medicated interventions for children with histories of complex, chronic trauma and aggressive, maladaptive behaviors. Using play therapy and guided by the Neurosequential Model of Therapeutics, Rachel provides individual and family therapy services. She advocates extensively for children in the foster care system and frequently provides psychoeducation to the children’s teams in order to help provide the best circumstances in which the child may thrive. She has received extensive play therapy training from the St. Louis Play Therapy Institute. She has also trained at the Theraplay Institute. Rachel believes that every child deserves to be understood, supported, and surrounded by unconditional positive regard.
Presentation(s):
Lessons Learned: Effective Interventions & Support for Young Children with Trauma