It was while growing up that Mike Yestramski found his life’s calling.
“Like a lot of people in the behavioral health field, I had my own experiences growing up through family and friends who struggled with behavioral health problems,” he says. “I saw a lot of good that can be done but I also saw a lot of areas for improvement, and I wanted to be part of that improvement.”
Yestramski is a psychiatric social worker at Western State Hospital near Tacoma, Washington. For more than 15 years – the last five in Washington – he has been helping people who struggle with mental illness, substance abuse disorders, behavioral addictions and more.