Today we’d like to introduce you to Brianna Leavitt, LCSW
Brianna, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I began my education journey in 2013 at Salt Lake Community College. I’ve always known that I wanted a career that involved helping others somehow and at first I thought that was going to look like becoming a teacher. I took my time at SLCC, but eventually I ended up taking an introductory social work class. That class was everything that excited me: social justice, advocacy, social problems, etc. I will never forget the day that I remember reading in my social work class all of the things that social workers could go on to be… one of those things being a therapist.
I’m a first generation college-student. The idea of becoming a therapist really excited me, but I really didn’t see it in my cards financially to ever be able to attend a grad program to be able to obtain my Master’s degree in order to become what I really wanted: a therapist. About midway through my Bachelor’s degree, my father passed away. Our relationship was complex, but his passing really sent my life on another course and made me reconsider many things in my life. I left a relationship that I felt was holding me back in many ways, met my now husband, and through my Bachelor’s program at the University of Utah I was told that I should consider applying for the Substance Use Disorder Counseling program. I truly never thought I’d end up working with addiction, but given the many connections to addiction in my life, it did make sense.
I started the SUDC program and was a Bachelor’s level intern at a recovery center in Salt Lake. I really loved this work. At the time, I was working a corporate job at a desk full-time while also attending school and my internship. Working at the recovery center just ignited a passion in me, and through some encouragement from friends and peers I decided to apply for the Master’s of Social Work program in hopes to fully actualize my dream of becoming a therapist. After being waitlisted, I did find out about 3 days before orientation that I was accepted and I remember being so grateful and so excited.
Through my Master’s program, I continued my work as a therapist working with addiction. I am grateful for the guidance that I received navigating my way forward into becoming a therapist. I ended up opening up my own private practice in February of 2024 called Eleven Eleven Therapy Co. I don’t practice with as much of a focus on addiction as I did early in my education and career, and I have more of a focus on helping those who have suffered from betrayal in an intimate relationship, trauma, and how our early childhood relationships shape our relationships today. I use a modality called Lifespan Integration which I have found to be very significant in helping my clients (and myself in my own therapeutic work) develop a more compassionate relationship to themselves and their stories.
I am often asked what Eleven Eleven means to me and why I chose to name my practice what I did. My dad died on November 11, 2017. I believe in the power of symbolism and synchronicity and 11:11 is a number I often see show up in my life in ways when I really need to feel some connection to some kind of higher power. I decided to name my practice Eleven Eleven Therapy Co. because I want to help my clients through the power of connection, and I want them to also be able to create meaning through times of trial.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Becoming a therapist really requires you to do your own work (at least it should). I believe it should be a requirement that all therapists engage in their own therapy! I would not have known that I wanted to engage in this work had I not been introduced to my own therapist, and I have worked with her on and off for 7 years. It is a vulnerable thing to sit with a client at a time in their life when they really needed help the most, and to be able to do that most effectively I have engaged vulnerably with my own healing as well. Really acknowledging my own story, family dynamics, and attachments hasn’t always been something easy, but I believe it has made me the therapist that many of my clients trust to walk them through their own stories today.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
My private practice is called Eleven Eleven Therapy Co. I primarily work with those who have experienced betrayal in their intimate relationships, attachment or childhood trauma, as well as general mental health issues such as anxiety and depression. I really have a passion for working with those who have experienced trauma and because of this passion I have sought out training in Lifespan Integration therapy. Lifespan Integration is a gentle modality that aids in the facilitation of healing from trauma. I very much believe in it as I also work with my own Lifespan Integration therapist and have experienced many insights personally that I would not have had I not engaged in this modality. I also combine mindfulness practices, Internal Family Systems, and work primarily from an “attachment lens”, meaning that I really help clients to understand how their earliest attachments may be impacting their relationships in the present. I believe that all of my clients have inside of them what is needed to heal, I just act as a vessel to help them access that well of healing within themselves.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
I am happy to be a therapist in a time where I believe mental health and discussing it is becoming more normalized. I really hope that this path continues, because mental health has been stigmatized for far too long. I think it is becoming more common for the general public to discuss openly that they’re in therapy and to feel proud of this rather than keep it a secret. While I do not believe that therapy is the only way to heal, it can be a really powerful one and it should be something that those who are curious can seek out without feeling a sense of shame.
Pricing:
- 150 per session
Contact Info:
- Website: https://eleveneleventherapyco.com
- Instagram: eleveneleventherapyco
- Other: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/bri-leavitt-murray-ut/909845
