Cache Richardson is a 25-year-old, class of 2013 University Heights Academy graduate. She originally intended to go to the University of Kentucky to pursue a degree in biology to be a Physician's Assistant, but God had other plans for her and she changed routes to pursue a degree in Psychology. She has a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from the University of Kentucky in Lexington, KY and is receiving a Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling next month from the University of the Cumberland’s in Williamsburg, KY. Once she has received her Masters, she will receive her LPCA(Licensed Professional Clinical Associate) license. While in high school, she played basketball and volleyball. She was member of different clubs as well. While receiving her bachelor’s degree, she was a member of VOX (Voices for Planned Parenthood), she was a KCREW Leader, a member of BSU (Black Student Union), was an Amachi Lexington Leadership Foundation Mentor, a Girls on the Run Head Coach, and a Ronald McDonald Family Room Monthly Volunteer. Psychology is a social science discipline.
She is currently a TRP (Therapeutic Rehabilitation Program) Supervisor and a Mental Health Therapist for Mountain Comprehensive Care Center. Prior to being a TRP Supervisor, she was the head Case Manager along with being a Mental Health Therapist. She currently works with homeless individuals ranging from males to females to mothers with children. Cache's day to day duties can vary depending on what the clients are needing that day and how they are feeling. Her days are never the same. The routine could be the same, but the actual responsibilities and job duties are always changing. In her role as a MH Therapist, she can provide various outpatient mental health services with the goal of patient recovery. She conducts intakes and monitor individual, group, and family therapies. She develops treatment plans and conduct reviews as needed throughout the duration of treatment. She provides mental health assessments, counseling, referrals, and intervention services. Lastly, she completes and maintains documentation according to federal and state guidelines. As a TRP supervisor, she oversees day to day program operations, promote opportunities for clients to develop skills, increase functional abilities in the areas of domestic living, recreating/leisure, self-advocacy, community integration, communication,mand vocational skills. Cache ensures the program environment and community site is clean, safe, and are in compliance with standards. She manages curriculum development to meet program goals and objectives to support extensive community integration of individual clients. She develops and monitors the budget for TRP expenses (art supplies, food, etc.). She also manages TRP referrals and completes Outpatient Treatment Requests for new clients entering the program. Lastly, she completes day to day documentation in a timely manner. In the future, she plans to open her own private practice and also open a homeless shelter that will provide mental health services.
There are many things that motivate Cache to go into this profession. The environment she grew up in led her to search different reasons for what people around me were experiencing. She didn’t want to accept that the person down the block was an addict and that was all he would be because he's an addict. She didn’t want to believe that the girl she knew that dropped out of school at 8th grade had no choice but to become another statistic. She refused to be okay with the justification that her mother's drinking problem was because it was normal for people in her family to drink a lot. She wanted to be the one to understand someone's hurt and problems and be able to fix them. She went into this profession thinking she would be able to fix people, but had to learn the hard way because she couldn't save the person that meant the most to her. She now knows that she is in this field to be that small light of hope in people's lives. She feels that she can be the person that no one has ever had. She can be the person to help someone break through their trauma, etc. Cache is a person who genuinely likes to help people any way that I can, but it was ultimately her mother that drove her to pursuing this career. She wanted to understand her mother's everyday struggles like depression, lonesoneness, and surpressing her feelings with unhealthy things.
Stem plays an active role in her career because she uses study of the human mind and its functions, especially those affecting behavior to help people understand their feelings and find productive ways to process those emotions. She advises those to be where she is to be ready for the difficult triumphs. Meaning, there is no easy road to get to where you want to be. You can take the road less traveled or the popular road that may look easy because many have used it, but the determination required is the same. Reaching your goals takes hard work and consistency, and you will hit several roadblocks, but you can’t allow them to determine which route you take.