Amanda Willgins is a licensed clinical social worker who transitioned from Lummi Behavioral Health to PeaceHealth’s Family Medicine office on Cordata.
“I’ve been a licensed clinical social worker for the last five or six years, and I’ve been doing mental health therapy with folks for four years,” she says. “For the last year of my tenure at Lummi Behavioral Health, I was the clinical manager doing management duties for a staff of 16 folks.”
Starting Out
Willgins was inclined to study mental health due, in part, to her experience with a family member who struggled with mental illness.
“From a young age, I was always interested in how the mind works, and how we deal with trauma,” she says. “That led me to psychology, and then I found myself in my early 20s in the medical social work field, doing a lot of case management for people who were struggling with either physical disabilities or mental health.”
After meeting a Master of Social Work, Willgins was inspired to follow the same journey in her career.
“She was just one of the most awesome people I had ever met, and I realized I wanted to step up my career and really commit to this social work thing, because I loved what I was doing,” she says. “I loved all the people that were social workers in my life, and I decided to commit to the mental health field and do social work.”
Outside of Social Work
Having grown up in the Kent/Auburn area of Washington, Willgins now lives in Bellingham and has been here for the last 10 years.
“I’m a musician and my husband and I play in a band called LipStitch,” Willgins says. “We met and fell in love with each other because we were both in bands and played guitar and had so much in common.” In 2016, they formed LipStitch, and now play throughout Whatcom in county bars, even traveling to perform in Seattle.
“I have a two-year-old daughter who’s the light of my life,” says Willgins. “I have two Chihuahuas — we love small dogs, we’re small dog people. Since I’ve lived in Whatcom County, my passion and love for music and being in the music community here has really blossomed; I love the community here.”
Willgins is heavily involved in the music community, volunteering to do workshops, and supporting other musicians in whatever way she can.
Looking Toward the Future
Willgins’ career with mental health and social work has evolved into bolstering support for a different part of the community, as well.
“I’m starting to feel like I’m gravitating toward first responders and maybe helping them,” she says. “This is just a thought I’m saying out loud — maybe for the second time ever — but I recently visited our local fire station and got to meet some of my firefighters, and they’re so amazing, they were so sweet with my daughter, and I thought, ‘These people have to see some of the scariest, worst things in the world.’”
Willgins hopes to apply her training in trauma therapy to first responders in the community in the future. “I don’t yet know what that means, but I do have a private practice I could reopen and maybe work with some first responders,” she says. “I’ll continue working with PeaceHealth, since I just started, and I’m excited about it. I’ll be expanding my family, continuing with the band, and then maybe doing some private work with first responders.”
On an everyday basis, Willgins’ values collide with her career, intersecting at every turn. “It’s my whole value system — being kind to your neighbor, making sure that the people around you are okay and, with the people who have the least resources, make sure they’re lifted up — that lifts me up,” she says. “That’s what social work is about. And so, to me, it just means living in my values and my truth every day.”
Top 7 Under 40
Being named one of the Top 7 Under 40 has been an honor for Willgins. “It’s nice to be acknowledged,” she says. “I hope everyone who’s working hard out there feels some acknowledgement, too.”
An event held at the Hotel Bellwether on Thursday, October 3rd from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. will celebrate all seven honorees and award the Young Professional of the Year. Click here for more details and to purchase tickets. Registration closes September 27, 2024.
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