Mental Health
+Self-Worth Therapist
Maria Bush, LPC-MHSP,AS,MPA is a well experienced licensed therapist, serving in the mental health field for 18 years. Maria has served her community in various social services roles that include: Emergency Psychiatric Services, Substance Abuse, Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence. She is the former Assistant Director for the Office of Crisis Services and Suicide Prevention for the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. She is the founder and owner of Kindness Connects Us Therapy Services, established June 2015. Everyday she helps youth and adults struggling with depression, anxiety, and anger that impacts their ability to make decisions, low self-esteem, substance abuse, physical pain, or troubled relationships.
ABOUT MARIA
Maria earned her undergraduate degree from Fisk University and graduate degree from Argosy University in Nashville, TN. She has additional certifications in working with individuals with serious and persistent mental illness and anxiety disorders, training clinicians across the state of Tennessee in emergency involuntary psychiatric services, advanced training for counseling adults who’ve experienced various types of abuse, and Certified Tennessee Licensure Supervisor. She is the owner of Worthy-ish LLC and host of Worthy-ish with Maria Bush Podcast.
What made me become a therapist?
Throughout my life as a child I was the quiet, observed everything and everyone around me. I faced and witnessed trauma. My mother would make sure I had outlets to express myself wether it was through dance, art or an after school care program. Friends, classmates and strangers often opened up to me, I did what I loved to do, listen and encouraged. After graduating from high school I was on my way to become a nurse, visiting the clinic my mom worked at for more than 20 plus years opened my eyes up to the need for more caring medical professionals that looked like me.
Before starting college I found myself involved in community based programs for at-risk teens and obtained my CNA certification working with dementia patients in a long term care nursing facility. Friends, family and strangers would talk to me about their problems. It was at that time I found myself more concerned and passionate about the mental health of the individuals I was serving, helping folks feel seen and heard. It was powerful hearing people reflect on their path and not only free themselves with their vulnerability but also empower others around them.
After college, I landed my first job in community mental health serving youth and families and later transitioned into emergency psychiatric services, triaged calls with individuals who were suicidal, homicidal, and experiencing a mental health emergency. Intervention care and treatment led me to curiosity about preventative care. How can we get in front of folks before a mental health crisis begins? Therapy was the answer for me.