McKenna, Oklahoma

Breaking a Pattern I Grew Up With

My parents were doing the best they could with what they had been taught, but the support just was not there.

I grew up in a home filled with domestic violence and abuse, toward my mom and toward us as kids. There was no one who stepped in, no one who could speak up for me or offer the protection every child deserves.

As I grew into adulthood and began to understand my childhood for what it really was, and what it should have been, I saw how trauma moves from one generation to the next. That realization changed everything for me.

I did not want other children to feel as unseen and unprotected as I once did.

McKenna

Finding My Purpose in the Earliest Years

That is when my passion for this work began. I wanted to help families create the safety and connection I needed when I was young. That is what led me into social work, to working with kids and families, and eventually to focusing on the zero to five population, where so much of the foundation is built.

There is something incredibly powerful about watching a parent learn a new skill and seeing the immediate shift in how they relate to their child. It changes the way they show up. It changes the way they see their child’s needs. It changes the way they regulate themselves so their child can finally feel calm and understood.

You can literally watch generational patterns begin to shift.

McKenna

Without intervention, early mental health problems can persist into adolescence and are strongly predictive of poor physical, cognitive and social outcomes.

Why I Do This Work

People often ask me, “Infant mental health? How does that even work? Do you just sit the baby down and talk to them?” I love explaining it, because so many people do not realize how much development happens in those first few years or how deeply early relationships shape a child’s brain.

But when parents start to understand, when they see the why behind behaviors and learn how to respond with connection instead of fear, it is transformational.

That is why I do this work. Because every child deserves safety, and every family deserves the support to create it.

Today, I carry that mission with me in my role as a mental health therapist and infant and early childhood mental health consultant at Sunbeam Family Services in Oklahoma City. This work is my way of giving families what I needed most when I was a child: protection, connection, and the chance to build a better beginning.

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