In the landscape of modern psychology, where the intersection of education, mental health, and community advocacy grows increasingly vital, few professionals embody the transformative power of purposeful career evolution like Dr. Ashley E. Poklar. Her journey from special education teacher to clinical director represents more than professional advancement; it illustrates how authentic passion, combined with unwavering commitment to youth welfare, can reshape entire systems of care.
Dr. Ashley’s story begins in an alternative school classroom, working with what she describes as “the ‘bad kids’” though her perspective immediately reframes this narrative. “These were kids whose trauma experiences were impacting their ability to engage in learning,” she explains, revealing the compassionate lens that would define her entire career. This early recognition that behavioral challenges often mask deeper needs became the foundation for everything that followed.
The transition from teaching to psychology wasn’t driven by career ambition alone but by a profound moment of advocacy frustration. While working at a Juvenile Detention Center during her master’s program, she encountered a barrier that would change her trajectory forever. “I did not have the proper letters after my name, or authority, to voice dissenting opinions from the psychiatrist on staff, despite the fact I spoke to the client significantly more often and had built a relationship with her,” she recalls. That very night, she applied for her doctorate in Counseling Psychology.
THE INTEGRATION OF IDENTITY: PSYCHOLOGIST, LEARNER, TEACHER, MOTHER
What sets Dr. Ashley apart is her refusal to compartmentalize her various roles. “I wouldn’t say these roles impact me daily, instead, they are me,” she emphasizes. This integration isn’t merely philosophical; it’s practical and powerful. As a mother of four children aged 11 to 14, whom she homeschools, she has what she calls “a front row seat to all things child development, education, and mental health in children.”
Her doctoral focus crystallized around fundamental questions that continue to drive her work: What makes a parent or teacher truly effective? What causes some youth to demonstrate resilience while others struggle with similar experiences? These inquiries, woven throughout her dissertation and professional identity, led to her passionate focus on relationship building as the cornerstone of effective intervention.
The power of this integrated approach becomes evident in her current role as Clinical Director at Sentinel Foundation, where she’s developing programs that bridge multiple systems and perspectives. Her unique background allows her to speak the languages of education, psychology, and parenting simultaneously, creating solutions that resonate across traditional professional boundaries.
MEANING MAKING: THE FOUNDATION OF TRANSFORMATION
Central to Dr. Ashley’s therapeutic philosophy is the concept of “meaning making,” which she describes as foundational to human understanding and growth. “The way we understand the world and our place in it is tied directly to the meaning we make out of our interactions and experiences,” she explains. This process, whether conscious or unconscious, shapes how individuals think, feel, and behave.
Her approach to meaning making goes beyond individual therapy sessions. When working with families, she helps parents and children recognize that others may carry different meanings from the same situations. “I would prefer to support my own children, my clients, and their family members to recognize the need for, and to build the skills necessary to engage in, conversation about varying responses to different situations,” she notes.
This perspective proves particularly valuable when working with trauma survivors. By helping young people reframe difficult experiences through purposeful meaning making, she enables them to develop “an increased sense of ownership, empowerment, and contentment.” The process transforms victims into survivors and survivors into thrivers.
COMMUNITIES OF CARE: REDEFINING COLLECTIVE RESPONSIBILITY
Dr. Ashley’s vision extends far beyond individual therapeutic relationships to encompass what she terms “Communities of Care.” These are environments “where all adults are looking out for all kids,” transcending traditional boundaries of family, school, and neighborhood. The concept addresses a critical gap in modern society where young people often fall through cracks between disconnected systems.
The key elements she identifies for creating sustainable Communities of Care reflect her integrated worldview: adults who genuinely care about young people, willingness to collaborate and be vulnerable, and openness to communication across various boundaries. “We ALL have something to bring to the table to strengthen the safety net of caring and community around our young people,” she emphasizes.
This philosophy directly informs her innovative programming at Sentinel Foundation, where she’s developing initiatives that require unprecedented collaboration between parents, teens, educators, and law enforcement. Rather than treating these groups as separate entities with conflicting interests, she creates spaces for meaningful dialogue and shared responsibility.
NAVIGATING 21ST CENTURY PARENTING CHALLENGES
Dr. Ashley’s perspective on modern parenting challenges resonates with parents struggling to connect with children growing up in an unprecedented digital age. “We don’t understand their experiences, because we never had anything close to their life experiences,” she observes. This reality creates unique obstacles in finding shared ground and meaningful connection.
Her solution involves leveraging psychological understanding to bridge these generational gaps. Psychology helps parents “understand what to expect in terms of typical child and adolescent behavior” and realize that many irritating behaviors “are actually quite normal.” Equally important, it helps identify when children need additional support beyond typical developmental expectations.
The collaborative relationship between parents and educators represents another area where Dr. Ashley sees tremendous potential for improvement. Her prescription is simple yet profound: “assume that one another have the best interest of the child/student in mind.” This foundation of trust, combined with honest acknowledgment of individual strengths and growth areas, creates space for truly effective collaboration.
BREAKING BARRIERS TO MEANINGFUL RELATIONSHIPS
Through her research and clinical practice, Dr. Ashley has identified what she considers the most significant barrier to creating high-quality relationships with young people: “An unwillingness to see the child in front of you as a whole person.” This barrier manifests in various forms, from making assumptions about thoughts and feelings to seeing only negative or positive aspects of a child’s behavior.
Her approach requires adults to show up as “real persons” while modeling appropriate conflict navigation. This demands strong self-awareness and emotional regulation skills from adults. “A relationship is a two way street, it requires genuine interactions,” she explains, challenging traditional power dynamics that position adults as authorities rather than authentic humans.
This philosophy directly challenges current educational and therapeutic trends that she believes have swung too far toward protecting young people from emotional discomfort. “Attempting to provide complete psychological safety in child-serving environments are actually doing a disservice to our youth,” she argues, “because they are not being emotionally taxed enough to learn to manage developmentally appropriate emotional distress.”
INNOVATIVE PROGRAMMING: BRIDGING SYSTEMS FOR IMPACT
Dr. Ashley’s commitment to systemic change manifests in two groundbreaking initiatives that exemplify her integrated approach to community mental health.
The 21st Century Sentinels Program represents a novel approach to online safety education that requires unprecedented collaboration between parents and teens. Rather than treating these groups separately, the program mandates communication between participants at the end of each segment. “The really unique thing about this program is that it requires parents and teens to communicate with one another,” she explains, “something that no other program currently requires.”
Equally innovative is her Mastering Youth-Involved Incidents Training for Law Enforcement, which provides continuing education credits while fundamentally shifting how officers interact with young people. The program focuses on child and adolescent development, trauma responses, and de-escalation techniques. What makes it particularly impactful is her decision to involve her own children as role players, providing officers with real-time feedback on their approaches.
“My children provide in the moment opportunities for participants to practice what they have learned and supply individualized and targeted feedback,” she explains. This integration of her various roles demonstrates how personal and professional boundaries can be thoughtfully blurred to create more authentic and effective interventions.
GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE, LOCAL IMPACT
Dr. Ashley’s work extends far beyond North Carolina’s borders, reflecting her commitment to creating lasting change wherever vulnerable children exist. Her international experiences have refined her understanding of how family, community, institutions, and systems interact across cultural contexts.
One of her most meaningful professional moments occurred during a trip to Jamaica with her four children to assess the placement of 59 orphans that Sentinel Foundation had relocated from Haiti. “We stayed on site and engaged with the residents, not only the 59 intellectually and physically disabled individuals from Haiti, but children and adults across multiple sites with a variety of disabilities,” she recalls.
The experience proved transformative for both her family and the residents. “It was such a beautiful experience to see the joy in the young people’s faces, to see how healthy and happy they were, and to know we played a small part in that.” The trip also provided her children with invaluable exposure to different abilities and cultural contexts, reinforcing her belief in experiential learning.
Another profound moment occurred during training she provided to social workers in Uganda’s sex and gender-based violence clinics. While observing a session with a four-year-old boy who had witnessed his father murder his twin brother, she was able to help the child move through his freeze response through playful dancing. “This moment was meaningful in so many ways, highlighting the power of personal connection even across cultures and language barriers,” she reflects.
THE THERAPEUTIC RELATIONSHIP: WHERE RESEARCH MEETS HUMANITY
Dr. Ashley’s approach to therapy seamlessly blends evidence-based practices with authentic human connection. She points out that research consistently supports the importance of the human element: “The single strongest predictor of positive outcomes in a child’s life? At least one strong, positive relationship with an adult. The strongest predictor of positive outcomes in therapy? The therapeutic rapport.”
Her therapeutic style combines solution-focused approaches with Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) strategies, enhanced by existential considerations of identifying and living one’s values. However, she consistently emphasizes that young people often already possess effective strategies; they simply need support in using them more effectively.
“They need to find their own solutions and solidify them as viable alternatives to how they are currently navigating their distress for it to really ‘stick,’” she explains. This approach respects young people’s inherent wisdom while providing them with tools and frameworks for more effective coping.
Her insistence on involving parents and caregivers whenever possible reflects her systemic perspective. “Children are often a product of their environment; helping them change without changing the environment is setting them up for failure,” she notes. This systems-thinking approach distinguishes her work from more traditional individual-focused therapy models.
CHALLENGING MISCONCEPTIONS, BUILDING HOPE
Dr. Ashley actively works to address common misconceptions about therapy that can prevent individuals from seeking help. Her messaging is clear and empowering: “I am not here to ‘fix’ you/your child; you/your child are/is not broken. Going to therapy does not mean you are weak.”
Instead, she frames therapy as “a space where you can have honest conversations and reflection time of yourself, your experiences, and your patterns and determine what is working and not working for you in this moment or phase of your life.” The therapeutic space also serves as a laboratory for practicing new ways of being before implementing them in daily life.
This reframing is particularly important for young people who may resist therapy due to stigma or fear of being labeled as “problems.” By positioning therapy as a space for growth and skill development rather than deficit correction, she removes barriers to engagement and empowers clients to take active roles in their healing processes.
ADVICE FOR THE NEXT GENERATION
For young professionals entering psychology, education, or social work, Dr. Ashley’s advice reflects her own willingness to embrace discomfort and take calculated risks. “Lean into discomfort in your training. Take the hard clients. Try new approaches,” she counsels. Her emphasis on genuine connection over professional distance challenges conventional training that often prioritizes boundaries over authentic relationships.
“Be genuine with your clients/students; be willing to connect (you can do that without self-disclosures),” she explains, highlighting the distinction between appropriate professional intimacy and inappropriate personal disclosure. This nuanced understanding allows for meaningful therapeutic relationships while maintaining ethical boundaries.
Her final piece of advice speaks to her own career trajectory: “Be willing to take professional leaps that feel risky if they match your value system!” This guidance reflects her personal mantra of “Live your values everyday,” which has led her on what she describes as “a wild career path, but one that holds so much meaning and purpose sometimes I can’t believe I was able to craft it.”
THE EVOLUTION OF PSYCHOLOGY: SYSTEMIC IMPACT
Dr. Ashley sees tremendous opportunity for psychology to evolve beyond traditional individual therapy models toward broader systemic impact. While acknowledging that many psychologists can continue working effectively at the individual level, she advocates for expanded roles that create “true systemic impact through a psychological lens.”
This evolution requires psychologists to “lean into fields beyond psychology to be truly impactful,” as she has done through her work with law enforcement, educational systems, and international humanitarian efforts. While not a straightforward career path and involving some risk, this approach offers the potential for transformative social change.
Her work exemplifies this evolution, demonstrating how psychological principles can inform law enforcement training, educational policy, child welfare practices, and community development initiatives. By positioning psychology as a lens through which to understand and improve human systems rather than merely treat individual pathology, she expands the profession’s potential impact exponentially.
LEGACY OF SYSTEMIC TRANSFORMATION
As Dr. Ashley looks toward the future, her aspirations focus on systemic change rather than individual achievements. “I want to change systems. I want to support individuals who care for and about kids better support the young people in their lives in whatever ways I can,” she states.
Her ultimate goal is ambitious yet achievable: ensuring that no child feels alone when surrounded by people. “My legacy, should I be allowed to write it, is that all children feel seen, heard, and valued leading to a notable decline in exploitation and trafficking because they were significantly less vulnerable.”
This vision requires the kind of comprehensive approach that Dr. Ashley embodies: integration of professional roles, commitment to authentic relationships, willingness to challenge existing systems, and unwavering focus on young people’s welfare. Her work demonstrates that individual practitioners can indeed create ripple effects that transform entire communities.
THE POWER OF INTEGRATED LEADERSHIP
Dr. Ashley E. Poklar represents a new paradigm in psychology and youth advocacy, one that refuses to accept artificial boundaries between professional roles, theoretical approaches, or systemic interventions. Her career trajectory from special education teacher to international consultant illustrates how authentic passion, strategic thinking, and willingness to take calculated risks can create unprecedented opportunities for impact.
Her approach offers hope for addressing some of society’s most pressing challenges related to youth mental health, educational effectiveness, and community safety. By insisting on seeing young people as whole persons worthy of genuine relationships, she creates space for healing and growth that transcends traditional therapeutic boundaries.
As we face increasing challenges related to youth mental health, educational disparities, and community disconnection, leaders like Dr. Ashley provide roadmaps for creating more integrated, effective responses. Her work reminds us that the most profound transformations often occur when we have the courage to blur boundaries, challenge assumptions, and prioritize authentic human connection over professional convention.
The future of psychology and youth advocacy lies not in maintaining traditional silos but in creating innovative collaborations that serve young people’s complex needs. Dr. Ashley’s career demonstrates that when practitioners are willing to live their values daily and take professional leaps that feel risky but align with their value systems, they can create lasting change that extends far beyond individual therapy sessions to transform entire communities and systems of care.
