Calli Votta '21, '23
During her first year as a Master of Social Work student at Stockton University, Calli Votta ’21, MSW ’23 entered a hands-on field placement that would help her connect classroom learning with real-world practice and discover a career path in grief support and trauma counseling.
AS AN UNDERGRADUATE in Stockton’s Psychology program, Votta was placed in an internship with a school psychologist. During the internship, she noticed the collaboration between the psychologist and the school’s social worker, and their different perspectives.
She credits that internship with helping her recognize that social work rather than psychology offered the kind of collaborative, client-centered work she wanted to pursue.
“Our preferences change as we go through the process of college, and with internships, we can see where we fit and what we’re passionate about; I was going to pursue a master's in counseling, but I started gravitating more towards social work, and it was because of that course,” Votta said.
That early exposure to experiential learning shaped how Votta approached graduate school. Rather than seeing fieldwork as a requirement to complete, she viewed it as a way to test what kind of social work felt meaningful and where her strengths could make the greatest difference.
SHORTLY AFTER GRADUATING and becoming an MSW student, Votta explored a variety of non-profit agencies offering internship opportunities.
One of these agencies, the Alcove Center, piqued her interest. Her field instructor reached out to the center and helped Votta set up an interview.
“I found it really intriguing, especially because grief has always been a challenge for me to address, and I definitely wanted to do an internship to challenge myself,” Votta said. “Eventually, through the field, I learned and realized that grief shows up in social work in one way or another, so it was important to challenge myself.”
When I first graduated high school, I didn’t want to go to college at all, but I was fortunate to have a really good support system that encouraged me to take a couple classes... Little did I know I was on my way to earning my doctorate. You never know where the opportunities will take you, so it's important to take that first step."
In the fall of 2022, she hit the ground running as an Alcove Center intern.
In this role, Votta led internal group therapy sessions for colleagues, partnered with Stockton’s MSW Alliance on community outreach initiatives and developed grant-writing skills. Each experience gave her a clearer sense of how grief support work combines counseling, education, outreach and advocacy, strengthening her confidence in pursuing the field as a career.
Her work ethic and drive impressed the center, especially after it received the grant Votta had applied for. The internship soon became a career opportunity: she was offered a full-time position and started her first day only two weeks before earning her master’s degree. By the summer, she was a licensed social worker providing individual therapy at the center.
NOW, VOTTA SERVES AS the center’s community violence outreach and trauma coordinator. She counsels a wide range of clients, including individuals, couples and families. Additionally, she oversees the Alcove Center’s Night of Service peer-support groups.
Her specialty is traumatic and unexpected grief, which she explains can be experienced by anyone. “What I learned through the field is that every age experiences grief differently: a three-year-old grieves so differently from even a seven-year-old. I really enjoy working with different ages because it helps keep me balanced,” Votta said.
Within the past year, Votta also became a Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral (TF-CBT) Certified Therapist where she met all requirements for rigorous training, knowledge and supervision benchmarks to deliver the evidence-based TF-CBT model with fidelity to children, adolescents, and their caregivers.
Her post-graduate accomplishments include becoming the youngest member of the New Jersey Grief Collaborative, which provides curriculum development resources on grief education for educators throughout the state; presenting at a national conference on a grief education bill recently passed in New Jersey; facilitating a collaboration between the center and the American Red Cross for community outreach; and becoming a doctoral candidate expected to present her capstone within the year.
Outside of work, she describes herself as an avid reader, enjoys long-distance running and loves trying different foods. Votta created the South Jersey Supper Club to bring food lovers together to discover, taste and share meals across South Jersey.
Votta credits her family, including her paternal grandparents and parents, who instilled the value of education and encouraged her curiosity to never stop learning.
“When I first graduated high school, I didn’t want to go to college at all, but I was fortunate to have a really good support system that encouraged me to take a couple classes. I started at Atlantic Cape Community College and transferred over to Stockton. Little did I know I was on my way to earning my doctorate. You never know where the opportunities will take you, so it's important to take that first step,” Votta shared.
– Story by Loukaia Taylor
