Alumni Spotlight: Hazel Zetino

“They say, as therapists, we hold the hope for our clients, but when you’ve been in the field long enough, you also get to see that hope fulfilled,” shared Hazel Zetino, a 2016 graduate of the Wright Institute’s Counseling Psychology program. “Seeing that journey is what keeps me in the work.”

Hazel was born in Los Angeles, the only daughter of two El Salvadoran immigrants. Her parents separated when she was young and she was raised primarily by her mother in a single-parent household. From an early age, Hazel demonstrated a love of learning and was very diligent with her schoolwork. “My home life was pretty intense, but I never went to therapy until I was in graduate school, so I just survived by relying on my faith,” she reflected. “My parents went to church with me once and I fell in love - they stopped after that, but I kept going.” Hazel remembers taking the bus to church or arranging rides with other church members to make sure she was there each week. She was involved in many church-related extracurricular activities, including being part of a worship dance team. “Church was my safe space,” she admitted. “It saved my life throughout my childhood with the trauma that I was experiencing.”

For her undergraduate studies, Hazel attended Holy Names University in Oakland, CA. She began as a biological science major with plans of becoming a doctor, but soon found that it wasn’t the path for her. “I was flunking out of all of the science classes and was super unmotivated,” she laughed. “I really hated them!” One day in class, a professor pulled Hazel aside and suggested that she should pursue a different major because she clearly wasn’t passionate about science. Hazel remembers looking through a list of all of the majors offered and psychology stood out to her. She began taking a few psychology classes, then declared as a psychology major at the beginning of her junior year. “I just loved going to class, having discussions, writing the papers, and I noticed myself not dragging my feet to go to school or do homework,” she recalled. “I realized I found my passion.” Although she had to take some summer classes to do it, Hazel still graduated on time in 2014 with her BA in psychology.

Immediately after graduating from Holy Names University, Hazel enrolled in the Counseling Psychology program at the Wright Institute. “I always knew, no matter what I did, I would either get a master's or a doctorate,” she explained. “I didn’t want to take a gap year and get lazy, so I decided to go straight through.” Hazel and her mom went to several open houses and were impressed by the cozy atmosphere at the Wright Institute. Her undergraduate studies were at a small, private institution where she thrived, so she hoped to replicate the experience for graduate school. “I asked around and everyone said that the Wright Institute had a pristine reputation out in the community,” she recalled. “It checked off all of the boxes!”

As Hazel began her studies at the Wright Institute, she realized she was the youngest student in either cohort. “I remember feeling super sheepish about that and dealing with a lot of imposter syndrome because everyone else was older than me,” she shared. “I was always shy to raise my hand in discussions, but I did anyway because I wanted to put myself out there.” Hazel’s confidence was bolstered by her faith and one Bible verse, I Timothy 4:12, which says: “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” Seeking to follow that advice, she was a vocal member of her cohort and formed close bonds with her classmates as a result. When it came time to graduate, Hazel was shocked and honored to find that her peers had selected her to be their student speaker.

One of the most challenging aspects of Hazel’s graduate school experience was coming to terms with the impact race has on her own life and would have on her clients’ lives. “I knew I was Latina and that there were different races, but I never once fathomed I was being treated differently because of that,” she explained. “I don’t remember having very overt or obvious experiences of being treated differently because of my race.” Hazel distinctly remembers the day in her Multicultural Awareness and Sensitivity course when the veil was removed and she saw clearly the impact of race on her own life through an in-class activity where students took steps forward or backward based on advantages and disadvantages they had faced. Although it was incredibly difficult and emotional, Hazel was grateful to have her eyes opened and felt extremely supported by her peers in this moment.

During her first year, Hazel also worked full-time as a Behavioral Therapist at the Center for Behavioral Sciences in Oakland, CA, providing individual behavioral therapy to children. She’s always been a very organized and scheduled person, but her time management skills were really put to work that first year. “I had to hustle - I had to work to pay rent and go to school, so I just made it work,” she laughed. “I stayed very organized and I had the energy because I loved what I was doing.” She admits it was definitely tiring some days, but her excitement about the work made it manageable.

There were two professors at the Wright Institute who had a profound impact on Hazel: Dr. Bernadette Torrez and Dr. Karen Godfredsen. Dr. Torrez interviewed Hazel during her application process, taught three of her first-year courses, and became her Professional Development Seminar instructor and mentor. “Seeing her as a woman of color, how she was very strong, very opinionated, very much spoke her mind, was amazing,” she reflected. “I really loved her spirit and aspired to be like that.” Dr. Godfredsen also taught three of her first year courses, and Hazel was inspired by her knowledge of the material and the way she structured and taught her classes, including Family Therapy I. “It was in that class with Dr. Godfredsen that I realized I didn't want to just be a therapist, I wanted to be a family therapist,” she recalled. “It really solidified my niche within the field.”

During her second year of the program, Hazel served as a student mentor, assisting first year students as they acclimated to graduate school. “As a first-generation Latina and first in my family to have a master’s degree, no one had paved the way for me, so I just had to figure it out,” she shared. “So I thought, if I could do that for someone else, that would be amazing.” Hazel loved being able to advocate for her fellow students in this role, but it opened her eyes to the difficulties and limitations of working within a system.

Hazel completed her practicum at Union City Youth and Family Services, a community organization that supports youth and young adults, in Union City, CA. In her position there, Hazel worked primarily with high school students in a school-based program. “I learned how to connect with teens and understand their moods and behaviors,” she explained. “I also got a taste of how to work with families in the clinic.” Hazel was able to investigate why teens were exhibiting certain rebellious behaviors, see the impact those behaviors had on their parents and families, and try to help them find a path forward. She also got her first experience interacting with the juvenile justice system in this role and was exposed to the challenges of substance abuse in teens.

The most valuable lesson Hazel learned during her time as a student at the Wright Institute was that “you can only take your client as far as you have taken yourself.” She had never been in therapy herself, but began during her first year of graduate school. “My future clients were my motivation and I wanted to be able to work with integrity, knowing that I was practicing what I was preaching to some extent,” she reflected. “I learned how important it was, as a therapist, to maintain my mental health so I could pour into the cups of my clients.” One piece of advice that Hazel would give to current or prospective students in the program is to figure out your “why” for doing this work. “Your ‘why’ will keep evolving and my ‘why’ continues to progress while I'm in the field,” she shared, “but at least figure out why this is important to you, why you want to do this, and be ready to do more self-reflection than you thought.”

After graduating from the Wright Institute, Hazel began working as a bilingual clinician at Multidimensional Family Therapy (MDFT), a home and community-based program serving drug-abusing or high-risk adolescents. The most difficult part of her work as a clinician was chasing down her clients for their therapy sessions, often going to their homes, schools, and other locations to track them down. “It was challenging to hear some of the pains that they were going through, but also rewarding to see some of the changes that they would make,” she recalled. “Their openness to the work and seeing the softening of their hearts was really rewarding.” Hazel spent three years as a clinician at MDFT, then advanced to the position of program manager, which she held until 2021. Being a program manager was an excellent fit for someone as organized as Hazel and she thrived in the role. “I loved learning the business of mental health,” she explained. “It was also rewarding at a systemic level to be face to face with the leadership within the juvenile justice system and experience things that I wouldn't have been able to as a clinician.”

In 2021, Hazel resigned from MDFT and decided to begin her own private practice called Harmonized Soul. When she first started, her work was all on Zoom, then it shifted to being community-based, meaning she was driving to her clients’ homes. “Now I have my own office in Oakland, California, where I serve families, individual adults and youth, and couples too,” she shared. “It's flourishing - I have about 17 clients right now and I’m working on how to expand that.” Hazel enjoys working with clients from all walks of life and finds her private practice to be extremely rewarding.

In the summer of 2022, Hazel returned to the Wright Institute as an adjunct professor in the Counseling Psychology program. She was excited to return to teach at her alma mater, but admits she was also a little intimidated when she began teaching Family Therapy II for the first time. Hazel had loved the course as a student, so she decided to incorporate a lot of role plays into her teaching just as her instructor, Dr. Godfredsen, had. “It was really challenging, but I grew so much,” she recalled. “It’s been really great to be teaching and working with the students.” It felt like coming full circle to support students as they encountered the same challenges and anxieties she recently faced as a student in the program.

From 2022-2024, Hazel worked as a mental health clinician at El Camino Hospital, which was quite different from her previous roles. “I always wanted to have the experience of working in a hospital within the mental health field,” she shared. “I wanted to see how we connected to the doctors in that way.” Hazel found that she didn’t have much interaction with per patients’ primary care doctors, but she was able to work closely with the hospital’s psychiatrist. “It was different to work with a lot more medication management and medication was pushed more than in any other place I've worked because, of course, it's a hospital,” she recalled. “Just managing all of that was a challenge and a great learning lesson as well.” At the hospital, Hazel provided group therapy for adults staying as part of their substance use program, mood disorder program, or mental health program. Although she had some prior experience with group therapy from her practicum experiences at the Wright Institute, Hazel was grateful for this opportunity to focus on working with groups.

Hazel also holds two leadership positions at Shiloh Church, where she is also a member. In 2017, she began working as the young adult leader, guiding transitional aged youth as they step into adulthood. “In my other experiences, I’ve either worked with adults or youth, so this is a middle phase I had never worked with,” she explained. “I’m working with them in a whole different way, but still bringing in that empathy, caring, and nurturing dynamic as a leader.” Hazel took on the additional role of Communications Manager in November of 2024, designing their newsletter and recruiting and managing volunteers. “It’s been fun to bring in some of my work as a therapist to this role,” she shared. “I’m very mindful of how any newsletter content could land or how some church members feel about decisions being made.” In every role she holds, Hazel leads with the same empathy and compassion she provides to her clients.

During her limited free time, Hazel has been busy planning her upcoming wedding with her fiance. She also enjoys spending time with a group of close girlfriends who are more like sisters to her and going out for girls’ nights. Hazel’s faith and her relationship with her church community are also very important aspects of her life. “I love going to church events that replenish me as another form of self-care,” she explained. “We have an event soon where we're going to talk about interpersonal relationships and how to build skills - just because I'm a therapist doesn't mean I can't use more of that!”

In the future, Hazel hopes to expand her private practice, Harmonized Soul, into a group practice, bringing on other clinicians to work alongside her and eventually managing the practice. “I’d like Harmonized Soul to be a mental health hub where we have a space for individual therapy, a space for group therapy, and a space for creative arts,” she envisioned. “I want clients to have access to all of that as part of their treatment.” Hazel would also like to write and publish books in the future, leveraging the experience she already has writing ebooks, and create a larger social media presence for herself, where she can share her knowledge with others. “My biggest dream, God willing, is that I can still be giving therapy at 60, 70 or 80 years old,” she laughed. “I don't ever see myself retiring because it's not something I'm working to be done with one day - it's my passion and my calling, so I hope to just do it as long as I can.”