April Smith, LCSW

Meet April

(she, her, hers)

April is a clinician at My Deaf Therapy (MDT) who has her Master’s degree in Social Work, with a specialty in School Social Work. Throughout her time as a clinician, April has grown accustomed to wearing many different ‘hats’ as a mental health service provider. Her ability to liaise and work in partnership with clients, colleagues, and external organizations has equipped her with a wealth of knowledge about the complex, fast-paced mental health care system that clients typically struggle to navigate when seeking mental health services. Across her extensive experience as a social worker, she has honed her clinical flexibility to ensure that she can adapt service programs, therapeutic techniques, and other treatment approaches to meet client objectives and specifications. April has a passion for working with all walks of life, and has extensive experience working with underserved and minority populations, including deaf and hard of hearing individuals. Over the past 7 years, April has gained a special interest in social media outreach, which included innovating a social media platform that is both accessible and provides free and low-cost resources to hard-of-hearing (HoH) users. A core component of her mission as a clinician is to implement personalized and readily available sources of support, guidance, strategies, and resources to deaf and HoH clients. Given her familiarity with working within the deaf and hard-of-hearing communities, she has developed an expertise for operating within the niche of hearing differences and prioritizes a culturally-informed approach to her clients. Throughout her experiences providing case management, April has gained a profound appreciation for the importance of cultural mediation skills as they support her ability to represent her clients’ needs in ways that are culturally affirming, ensuring that her clients feel empowered throughout their healing journey. April is familiar with working across disciplines, such as affiliating herself with other specialities and consulting with other professionals, which is typically indicated when connecting her clients with other agencies and/or support services. Her experiences in this respect have bolstered her ability to educate and advocate for her clients’ rights, as well as their individual needs. April’s extensive training experience has prepared her well to provide her current and diverse repertoire of services, which include: direct psychotherapy treatment, counseling, treatment plan guidance and development, psychological and emotional support, as well as psychosocial assessments that are needs-based and tailored to each client’s unique goals. April is thrilled to join MDT!