Staff Spotlight: Dana McCloskey, Outpatient Clinician

Outpatient Clinician Dana McCloskey has two sides to her brain—one lends itself to her career as a therapist specializing in relationship and family counseling, and the other drives an interest in operational, administrative work. She has used both sides throughout her career that has taken her to Wisconsin, New York City, and most recently, Vermont.  

Dana arrived at United Counseling Service (UCS) in May after a long hiatus from practicing therapy. She began offering groups for clients of the agency’s Intensive Outpatient Program and now holds several more groups, including Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), a form of talk therapy, as well as a relationships and boundaries group, an art group, grief group, and a new book reading group for IOP clients. She also works as a Blueprint Clinician on Thursdays at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center, where she provides mental health care to children.

For Dana, being a therapist feels like a natural career choice.

“I’ve always been a good listener and a caring empathetic person,” says Dana. “I think I’ve always been a person who is the mediator in my family of origin, so it just felt like a good fit.”

To satisfy the financial and operational side of her brain, Dana worked as Deputy Director of Finance for a program called Inner Resilience in New York City for over a decade. The program provided support for students and teachers in the Ground Zero area affected by 9/11. Dana continued to work remotely on a part time basis for the program after she moved to Madison, WI, with her husband. After having two kids, their family moved to Vermont in 2016, and Dana began working in a new finance role at Northshire Civic Center in Manchester, VT. Two years ago, she decided it was a good time for her to reenter the workforce full time. She started the job search and found an opportunity at UCS as an Outpatient Clinician.

Her work as a mental health professional comes with challenges, but also priceless reward. She tells the story of a father and daughter who came to UCS looking for a way to fix their relationship. After just two sessions, she saw a huge positive shift.

“It’s so nice when you can actually see the change that happens between two people. It took two sessions, and it completely changed their relationship. Those things are really great when you see them happen.”

Now at UCS, Dana appreciates working in an environment surrounded by a community of colleagues. “I wouldn’t want to be out there on my own,” she says. “It’s nice to be at an organization where I can be brought in with the support of other people. It’s a good place for me.”