From Social Work to the Super Bowl: This Day Kimball Healthcare Psychotherapist is About to Smash the Cheerleader Stereotype

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It’s a Wednesday afternoon and Brittany Bonchuk, a psychotherapist at Day Kimball Healthcare’s child/adolescent behavioral health outpatient program, is busy at work preparing for her afternoon appointments. On Friday she’ll still be busy at work – except this work will take her to Arizona for the Super Bowl. In the evenings and on weekends, Brittany has a second job as a New England Patriots cheerleader.

If it seems surprising that a licensed clinical social worker with a master’s degree is also a professional cheerleader, Bonchuk says it shouldn’t be.

“I’m surrounded by incredible women [on the Patriots cheerleading team] – a neuroscientist, a dentist, teachers; all with solid educational backgrounds and careers,” she says.

Bonchuk will be helping to smash the “ditzy cheerleader” stereotype when she’s featured on NBC Nightly News tomorrow evening as part of a larger report focused on NFL cheerleaders who also work in the sciences.

“I think it’s wonderful that NBC is doing this, and it’s about time,” she says. “There are so many negative stereotypes associated with cheerleading and cheerleaders – that they just want the spotlight, that they’re not smart or capable. But really we’re performers, many of us are trained dancers, and many have other very successful professional careers. And we’re just lucky and thankful that we’re also able to have fun doing something we love to do.”

Bonchuk is a trained dancer herself, having taken classes throughout childhood. She grew up in Griswold, CT and has lived in various areas throughout the state as well as briefly in Kentucky before moving to Northeast Connecticut in 2013. Her high school didn’t have a dance team, so at the encouragement of her friends she joined the cheerleading team instead. The path to both her professional and cheerleading careers was set when she went on to college at Central Connecticut State University.

“I started my undergrad program at CCSU in special education, because I loved working with kids. But I eventually realized what I was most interested in was family dynamics and relationships, and how I could help children and families in those ways,” Bonchuk says. “I changed my major and earned my bachelor’s degree in social work. Then I went on to the University of Connecticut for my master’s degree.”

In the midst of her studies Bonchuk also made the cheerleading team at CCSU.

“That opened up lots of opportunities for me for dance and cheerleading teams all over the state,” she says. “I began trying out for whatever team I could find, and ended up cheering for Connecticut’s teams in the Arena Football League (AFL), American Hockey League (AHL) and the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). I’ve also danced in an off-Broadway show and have been a background dancer for bands like Rascall Flatts.”

Bonchuk was on the dance team for the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun when she first heard about auditions for the Patriots cheerleading team.

“My family is split between Giants and Pats fans, and I honestly hadn’t thought much about trying out for an NFL cheer team but I thought, why not, I’ll give it a shot,” she says. After a roughly six-week audition process, she made the team.

It’s been a bit of a balancing act between two very disparate careers, Bonchuk says, but it’s been the perfect mix for her.

Bonchuk at work in her office (top) and in a meeting with her colleagues (bottom) at the DKH Behavioral Health Center.

“I’ve been working in the mental health field for 11 years, and I love it. I started in my current position at Day Kimball Healthcare in October. It’s a great program, and a growing program, which is appealing to me. It’s nice to be part of something that’s such an important service to the community,” she says.

“And luckily Day Kimball has also been very supportive of my passion outside of work. My cheerleading practices are on evenings and weekends, and NFL cheerleaders only cheer at their team’s home games, so there hasn’t been a lot of travel during the work week and generally the scheduling has worked out well,” Bonchuk says. “And cheerleading has been a great outlet after the stress and burnout that can sometimes come with social work,” she adds.

That’s not to say that her time with the Patriots cheerleading team hasn’t been full of excitement. In her four years as a Patriots cheerleader, she has served as captain for three, and represented her team at the 2011 NFL Pro Bowl in Hawaii.

“I enjoy every single game we cheer, it’s always a thrill, and I’ve had so many experiences I never would have had otherwise,” she says. “I’ve travelled the world with the team, been to eight different countries on military tours and calendar photo shoots. I’m so blessed that my employers have always been supportive of that.”

But all good things must come to an end. This is Bonchuk’s final year as a New England Patriots cheerleader. (Patriots cheerleaders must try out for the team every year, and can only make the team a maximum of four times).

“I’m sad that it’s ending,” she says, “but I’m so lucky to have had such an incredible final year with the Patriots, and to end it with the Super Bowl is just amazing.”

The Super Bowl is the one exception to the “home field only” cheering rule.

“It’ll be one last ‘hurrah’ and I’m beyond excited,” Bonchuk says. “I can’t wait to get down there and experience it all!”

And what an experience it’ll be. Over the course of just three days she and her teammates will be featured on Good Morning America, the Today Show, Inside Edition, NBC Nightly News and countless other interviews, as well as dancing on stage with country music superstars Jason Aldean and Florida Georgia Line. And, oh yes, they’ll be cheering at the Super Bowl too. That’s a pretty impressive line-up with which to end any career.

And when she returns? She’ll pick right back up where she left off, helping children and families right here at home in Northeastern Connecticut.

“It’s bittersweet to say goodbye to cheerleading,” Brittany says. “But I’ll find another outlet for my dancing, maybe coaching a team. And I really love what I do, so I’m looking forward to building on my professional career at Day Kimball, and helping to make a difference for families in my community.”

 

Related Resources

Integrated Care: Behavioral Health
Behavioral Health Child/Adolescent Outpatient Care