Boost!ing the Mental Health Workforce: Dr. Chelsea Washington’s Story
By: WHF Staff
Dr. Chelsea Washington has always been driven to give back to her community. Thanks to the Boost! program from the Virginia Health Care Foundation (VHCF), she is on her way to becoming a licensed counselor in York County, Virginia. Boost! covers the cost of clinical supervision required for licensure, a cost which can be prohibitive for early-career professionals. By providing mentorship to motivated Residents in Counseling or Marriage and Family Therapy, or Supervisees in Social Work who self-fund their clinical supervision hours, Boost! aims to address the critical shortage of mental health professionals in Virginia.
Chelsea’s upbringing in Virginia Beach, influenced by her mother, a counselor, and her father, an attorney, instilled in her the values of service and giving back to the community. These principles helped shape her decision to enter the mental health field. Now, as a Resident in Counseling at Ellie Mental Health, Chelsea applies those values to support clients navigating mental health challenges.
That work and her understanding of resilience took on new meaning after the unexpected loss of her husband of 25 years last October. “Life throws punches, and it is not just about getting back up, but it is really about the resilience to navigate the new space,” Chelsea reflects. These words resonate with her, both as a counselor and as someone walking through the grief process herself.
During this difficult time, support from her colleagues and VHCF has been invaluable. The VHCF staff guided Chelsea through a temporary pause in her participation in the Boost! program and the licensure process, offering compassion and encouragement until she was ready to resume. She expresses gratitude for the guidance and understanding provided by Boost! staff and her colleagues at Ellie Mental Health. “Without Boost!’s support, it would have taken me a much longer time for licensure, because I would have had to slow down after my husband’s passing.” Now resuming her path to licensure, Chelsea continues her work with clients while intentionally making space for herself and her healing. She understands that prioritizing self-compassion and self-care is essential not only for her own healing but also for her effectiveness in supporting others.
Committed to positively impacting her community, Chelsea’s journey in mental health counseling highlights how programs like Boost! can significantly increase the mental health workforce and provide essential support in areas facing critical shortages. The Williamsburg Health Foundation supports VHCF’s Boost! program through a $50,000 grant, which funds the required supervision hours for licensures of two behavioral health counselors and one licensed social worker in our service area: the City of Williamsburg, James City County, and York County. Upon licensure, Boost! graduates funded by the Williamsburg Health Foundation agree to a service commitment to practice in Greater Williamsburg for two years. This investment expands the mental health workforce in our area. By supporting and accelerating the licensure of mental health providers in Greater Williamsburg and across the Commonwealth, Boost! helps to improve earlier access for individuals experiencing mental health challenges, which can significantly improve their recovery.
Dr. Chelsea recommends that anyone who has recently completed a graduate degree in social work or counseling and is ready to begin their required supervision hours in Greater Williamsburg apply for Boost! “Don’t disqualify yourself—apply for the program! Because of Boost! and the Williamsburg Health Foundation, we are given the ability to serve the communities that need it the most.”
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The Williamsburg Health Foundation (WHF) is an independent private health foundation with the mission to collaborate, innovate, and invest to impact systems that improve the health and well-being of individuals living in Greater Williamsburg. The Foundation was established in September 1996 when the Williamsburg Community Hospital and Sentara developed an affiliation agreement and later merged. This agreement included a provision for a new, locally organized, and managed Foundation to benefit community health. Since inception, WHF has awarded over $112 million in grants to improve community health and well-being.