
Professional path:
Born and raised in Fairbanks, Alaska, attended Hunter Elementary and Pearl Creek Elementary, Ryan Middle school, and West Valley High school. Monika has always loved drawing and creating art in my free time and wanted to study art in college until I overheard the psychology class when doing a perspective drawing of the hallways in an art class at West Valley. After high school, Monika attended the University of California, Santa Cruz and majored in psychology. After finishing college, she then taught English as a second language in Poland, but missed Fairbanks, and decided to return.
Monika has experience working with individuals with severe mental disorders as a supported employment specialist, where she supervised clients gaining job skills while also managing the Alaska Rag Company gift shop. While she took several years off after having a family she decided to return to school for a Masters in community counseling. Monika feels she took the scenic route for completing her master’s degree as she took about twice as long to finish since I worked full time and while taking classes. While working toward her Master’s degree she worked as a care coordinator with a local agency and then for the State of Alaska. After graduating she worked with a mandated population of individuals experiencing substance abuse diagnosis. In this role she conducted group therapy and individual therapy. Monika also notes she learned a lot about the treatment modality, DBT, or Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, which includes mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, emotion regulation, and distress tolerance skills. The importance of supports was also emphasized.
Monika has worked with adults, children, and teens. Monika has focused on learning evidenced based practices and plans to learn more about Art therapy.
On Monika’s down time she enjoys drawing, painting, and beading. In the summer she looks forward to berry picking season, ranging from wild berries to local you-pick farms. She also
enjoys going on walks to enjoy wildflowers and running in the summer.
In the fall she enjoys observing the leaves change color and tries to venture to Denali Park to
enjoy the views on the drive.
In the winter she enjoys baking quiches or desserts with frozen summer berries.
