Hannah Shumaker
Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist

What is your professional focus/area(s) of interest? "This sounds so wrong, but I love trauma. Don't ask me why, but my passion is working with and helping people who have experienced trauma. I'm also trained in Dialectical Behavior Therapy, a Prepare/Enrich Facilitator, and a Master practitioner in Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART)." 
Do you do any volunteer work?"I would eventually like to work with first responders and help get them trained in SAF-T [sensation awareness focus technique], which is a specific ART technique designed for non-therapeutic professionals, like first responders, teachers, even parents. It's something I'm passionate about, helping train first responders with this technique because I know firsthand the benefits of ART."  
What drew you to this profession? What do you like most about it? "When I was younger a guest speaker came to church, Rob Morris from Love146. He talked about the organization, and something clicked for me, and I literally turned to my mom and said, 'That's what I want to do.' But life happens, you know? Somewhere along the way I allowed my limitations to get the better of me. I'm not a linguist and a lot of the work Love146 does is in other countries, so I kind of altered my course because learning another language is difficult for me. I still went into college with psychology as my major. Fast-forward a few years and I found myself mediating an argument between my best friend and her then-boyfriend; they're married now. I enjoyed helping them figure things out together, started looking into graduate programs and schools, enrolled in ACU, and the rest is history. I love what I do, and I wouldn't trade it for anything. People are fascinating and I love learning about them and their world." 
What makes you unique? "Personally? I don't know. I'm a Type 8 on the Enneagram. I know a lot of random things for literally no reason. I like Lord of the Rings. Uhm, professionally? I don't carry my clients' problems with me. I care about my clients and their well-being, but I also recognize that I don't have the power to change their lives; only they do." 
What is one piece of advice you commonly give to your clients?"Stop asking 'why.' We don't need to know the 'why.' We need to know 'what is the problem and what are we going to do about it moving forward?' I think 'why' is beneficial for self-reflection and soul-searching purposes, but if you're asking why of someone else, like, "Why did you do that" or "Why didn't my parents..." then, at the very least, the answer you get will not meet your expectations."
Is there anything else you would like to add?"Embrace your weird. Embrace your imperfections. Acceptance does not mean agreeing with or condoning unwanted behavior. Acceptance means understanding that there are things you can control and things you can't control in any given situation. So, give yourself some grace and don't give up on yourself."