Tessa Sterling, LMSW

Clinical Director

Tessa Sterling graduated from Michigan State University with a bachelor’s degree in social work. Afterward, she moved to Chicago to get her master’s in social work with a specialization in mental health in the advanced standing program at Loyola University. Tessa has a wide range of experience in the mental health field. She began her first internship during her time at Michigan State, working with court-mandated adolescents and families in Ingham County.

She transitioned as a social worker to work in one of the largest inpatient psychiatric hospitals in the Chicago area for several years. Tessa worked with all populations in the hospital, including adult, adolescent, and pediatric patients, with a wide range of mental health symptoms and diagnoses, including but not limited to depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, trauma-related symptoms, OCD, and substance use. While Tessa was employed at the hospital, she also worked part-time as a resident support staff member in residential units, supporting clients with eating disorders at the Eating Recovery Center.

Tessa knows that resident support staff are the backbone, heart, and soul of residential treatment programs, and this is where her career and passion began. Tessa was compelled by the bravery of clients choosing recovery from their eating disorders, so she made the transition to work in eating disorder treatment full-time as a therapist. She has worked across residential, PHP, and IOP levels of care, specializing in the comorbidities of eating disorders and OCD. Tessa has a strong passion for the treatment of OCD, eating disorders, and substance use, as she sees so many comorbidities and crossovers in these populations. Tessa also worked at Compass Health Center as a director of adolescent programming. She was a pioneer in opening the adolescent OCD program at Compass Health Center in Chicago.

Tessa is a clinician at heart but has found joy and passion in program development, clinician mentoring and training, and clinical operations. As the Clinical Director, Tessa is excited to work with the Sanford team. She loves to collaborate with staff members and is grateful for the opportunity to work alongside such a passionate, skilled group of people while increasing access to mental health care in West Michigan and beyond. Tessa believes in patients receiving the specialized care they need to see symptom reduction and an increase in daily functioning. She brings her knowledge of mental health programming and evidence-based practices to Sanford Behavioral Health. She supports the expansion and growth of the eating disorder and mental health programs at Sanford.

In her free time, Tessa loves to spend time with family, friends, and her French Bulldog, Douglas. She also enjoys being outdoors, reading, cooking, traveling, and exercising. Her favorite thing is to make homemade meals for the people she loves!

 

Tessa says, “People are truly resilient. Sometimes, our clients need us to help remind them of that, as they deserve recovery and healing. They are capable of living a meaningful life, even in the face of pain or discomfort. I do this work because I believe in recovery and feel privileged to be alongside our clients in this journey. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t feel grateful and proud of the work that our clients do. Each day that we wake up and choose to do the work is one step closer to living out the values-based life we all deserve.”