After a successful career as a tribal social worker, Erica Tatum-Sheade made the decision to leave the workforce and stay home. In 2014, an opportunity to return to work part-time at Integrated Mental Health Associates found Tatum-Sheade to see the need for child and adolescent providers so she shifted from her role as a part-time admin to the work that she had loved years before.
“This shift proved to be fruitful as I was able to become one of the top revenue producers for the practice in just a short time,” she said.
In 2020, an opportunity to take on more ownership of the practice presented itself that led Tatum-Sheade to her current role as co-owner. “Taking on this role I have been able to help expand our clinical team, increase our admin team, and provide supervision and mentorship to newer clinicians and students,” she said. “Along with my co-owner, we have made IMHA one of the most recognized local private practices and created a referral network that continues to meet the needs of those seeking mental health care in the state of Arizona.”
Integrated Mental Health Associates has a mission to provide open, professional, and above all, effective mental health services to those in need. Tatum-Sheade provides individual sessions to children and adolescents and specializes in shame resiliency, CBT, EMDR and play therapy. She has also created a group curriculum called G.E.M.S. – Girls Empowered, Motivated, and Strong – where she teaches concepts of confidence, empowerment, self-esteem and authenticity to girls from elementary through high school.
Tatum-Sheade provides training to other professionals and speaks regularly about mental health with presentations for NASWAZ, the School Social Workers Association, Grand Canyon University, Compass Church, Mental Health America, and several branches of the Association for Play Therapy.
Outside of the office, Tatum-Sheade serves on several nonprofit boards, including Jack and Jill of America-Sun Valley Chapter, Kid in the Corner, a suicide prevention nonprofit, and Black Therapists in AZ. She has been recognized as the National Association of Women Business Owners women of vision awardee and as the Arizona chapter social worker of the year by the National Association of Social Workers.
As a leader, Tatum-Sheade said she relies on compassion and empathy. “Both compassion and empathy allow me to be able to connect in a way that is meaningful and rooted in understanding,” she said. “Successful leaders are those who understand the importance of a successful team and possess the ability to see what is below the surface in a person and provide the space and time needed to bring their individual level of greatness to the surface with support and guidance.”
