Before she ever became a therapist, she spent time working with teenagers who had nowhere else to go. Some had run away from home; others were waiting for foster placements. She cared deeply about them, but often left work carrying the same thought:

There has to be a way to help before families reach this point.

It wasn’t that she wanted to rescue anyone. She felt like she could see and understand what was happening beneath the surface. She could see how families became disconnected, how people were responding to pain, and why behaviors that seem confusing often make perfect sense when she could hear their story.

That very spot of curiosity eventually led her to counseling. And as we talked, one theme kept finding its way back into the conversation:

Resilience.

Not in the inspirational-posters that you find framed and hung on the walls of clinics and schools, kind of way. But rather, in the quiet, everyday way. She talked about meeting new clients and hearing stories that would make most people stop in their tracks. She heard stories of loss, family conflict, fear, big life transitions; The kinds of experiences that leave people wondering how they’re supposed to keep going.

And yet…

“They’re still here.”

Still showing up. Still hoping. Still trying. & It genuinely seems to amaze her every time.

And the most interesting part of this tidbit she shared? BreAnna doesn’t see resilience as something reserved for extraordinary people. When she talks about resilience, she notices it in the parent standing in line at the coffee shop. The person who had a terrible morning but still smiles at the cashier. The stranger whose story we’ll probably never know.

It’s a perspective she learned, in part, from her mom. “If someone seems short with you,” she told me, “you don’t know what kind of morning they’ve had.”

That simple idea has stayed with her and it has shaped the way she moves through the world (and the way she sits with people in the therapy room).

What’s Life Been Teaching You Lately? 

Recently, she’s been learning another lesson. BreAnna just moved to Duluth, and while getting to know the city and the people living here, she’s noticed something really interesting.  

Two people can live in exactly the same place and have completely different experiences of it. One person notices everything that’s missing. Another notices everything there is to explore. For her, that has become a reminder that while we don’t get to choose every circumstance life hands us, we do have choices about how we engage with the world around us.

Normally, this is where I start to get a little nervous. If you know me, you know I have a pretty deep disdain for anything that smells like toxic positivity. Pretending painful things aren’t painful has never been my style because some experiences deserve (and need) to be grieved. Some seasons are genuinely hard. & Therapy should always make room for that truth.

But what BreAnna was describing felt different. I didn’t hear her talking about denying reality or suggest that we all should simply “look on the bright side.” Rather, it sounded like she was describing the lens she chooses to carry through life; a quiet willingness to stay open to possibility, even while acknowledging that life can be incredibly difficult.

I think that’s an important distinction. Because if you believe people are resilient, you don’t have to pretend they aren’t hurting. In fact, you can fully honor their pain while also trusting that it won’t be the end of their story. As we talked, I realized that this wasn’t just an idea she believed. It seemed to be the framework she naturally returns to, both in her own life and in the way she sits beside other people. It’s less about finding silver linings and more about refusing to let hardship have the final word.

What’s next? 

As a therapist at Northern Edge Counseling in Duluth, MN, she’s looking forward to discovering where her passions intersect with community needs; whether that’s through mutual aid projects, groups, volunteering, or simply finding the places where she can be useful.

When I asked what she hopes someone leaves believing after a really good therapy session, she paused for a moment. Her answer was simple:

“I hope they leave feeling confident…that they’re capable.”

It’s hard not to notice that this is also how she seems to see the people around her. Capable. Resilient. & Already carrying more strength than they often realize.

Maybe that’s why talking with her feels so grounding and clarifying. She’s not on the hunt for ‘perfect people’ (whoever that is… ?). It seems like BreAnna is much more interested in looking for the parts of people that are already trying to grow, and helping them trust those parts a little bit more.