Oregon mental health specialist is Never Quit Service Award winner

Amy Simpson is a mental health specialist in Oregon who relies on her own past experience and struggles to connect with her clients.

“I help bridge the gap between addiction services and domestic violence services, and I’m an art therapist and drug and alcohol counselor,” she says. “I present them with media and options to explore and express, and it creates an atmosphere of ease and trust where I think they feel comfortable to start talking.”

One of her clients, Chelsey Darnell, saw her child taken away by child protective services before she sought help for substance use. With Simpson’s help, she was able to get him back.

“I don’t think that I could be in the position that I’m in right now without help from Amy,” Darnell says.

Simpson’s co-workers agree: Simpson makes a real difference in her clients’ lives.

“The girls here wouldn’t be the same without Amy,” says April Parker, an addictions counselor who works alongside Simpson. “She has that unique way that she brings in art therapy, into her sessions, and really that loving relationship that people need …. They just wouldn’t be the same without her care.”

For her service to her community, Simpson is a winner of AFSCME’s Never Quit Service Award, which seeks to recognize public service workers who go above and beyond the call of duty to make their communities better.

“I see mirror reflections of myself and my journey, and so I do truly relate and understand what’s going on with that person that’s suffering,” says Simpson, reflecting about her calling and what brought her to it. “And if I can help them find that spark, then maybe that spark can be ignited into a flame.”

In this video, watch Simpson tell her story in her own words.

Know a co-worker who goes the extra mile to make their community better? Nominate them for AFSCME’s Never Quit Service Award.