Christie Young, LCSW
Clinical Internship Coordinator
Christie Young is a Los Angeles native and was raised in multiple cities across Southern California. Having overcome many challenges early in life, Christie has been on a lifelong mission to break cycles of generational trauma and aspires to help others do the same.
Christie graduated from UCLA with a degree in Psychobiology in 2016 and began her career as a middle school Science teacher, seeking to provide quality education and mentorship to inner-city youth. Her experience in supporting students and families through the messiness of life, along with the life-transforming help she received from a licensed therapist in her own healing journey, led Christie to find her calling in the field of clinical social work. Christie graduated from Azusa Pacific University with a Master’s in Social Work in 2020.
Since then, Christie has worked with a diverse population of individuals and families, including unhoused individuals, youth in foster care, and those with severe mental illnesses. Christie is now a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and finds it her great honor to be invited into the sacredness of others’ stories and to walk alongside people towards healing and wholeness. Christie is so grateful for the journey it has been thus far, and for the many mentors and supervisors who have shaped her into who she is today– she is excited to be a part of Social Model Recovery Systems as the Clinical Internship Coordinator and to have a hand in training up the next generation of social workers/helping professionals.
Fun facts about Christie: Christie loves board games, Harry Potter, visiting national parks, and giving way too much attention to the “favorite” of her two cats.
Q & A with Christie
What is the Internship Program about?
Many of our programs at SMRS have hosted student interns at their sites. I like to think of an internship as a mutually beneficial relationship between student interns and SMRS programs. Interns are able to receive hands-on training/experience to develop their skills and professional careers, and staff at our programs have the opportunity to invest in developing professionals, utilize additional helping hands on site, and assess interns’ compatibility for future hire. Many SMRS staff started out as interns!
What does the Clinical Internship Coordinator do?
As the Clinical Internship Coordinator, I will be the primary point person for our programs and educational partners (schools) for all things internship-related. I will also be providing clinical supervision to social work students as needed. My long-term goal is to strengthen and expand our internship program to offer an increasingly competitive internship opportunity to students, so that our programs can be selective in bringing in the best candidates.
What can we expect in the coming months?
Some of my short-term goals include:
- Streamlining intern recruitment and onboarding workflow
- Developing an Intern Handbook to serve as an intern orientation and guide throughout their internship
- Increasing visits to program sites to provide in-person support to interns and programs
How do we contact you?
I am located at the Main Office. My email is [email protected], and my phone number is 626-332-3145 ext. 237. If you have any questions, feedback, or great ideas, please feel free to reach out! I’m all ears.
