Esti Shapiro, a Utah local and University of Utah alum, is slowly but surely becoming an expert in native Utah plants.
Esti is currently studying botany at Weber State University and is invested in the expansion of native pollinator plants in landscaping and managing invasive species across the state and region.
Botany hasn’t always been a passion for Esti, who graduated from the University of Utah with a Bachelor’s in Applied Mathematics in 2023. After tutoring math students on the university campus for the past five years, Esti’s plan was to become a math teacher, but things didn’t go to plan after graduation.
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Esti deeply struggled with their sense of belonging in academia while navigating coming out as transgender part-way through their degree. Experiencing backlash and isolation during their transition made them doubt their sense of belonging, and question what direction to take in life, career-wise.
“That caused me to spiral over the past few years,” Esti said. “I had to slowly work my way back into being a part of the world.”
Working their way back into the world
They were having suicidal thoughts and realized they could not face this on their own.
Esti spent three months in inpatient care, spending a month at the Huntsman Mental Health Institute and then receiving inpatient care at a residential treatment center. Finally, they took their first step in returning to home life, completing two weeks of day treatment. At that point Esti learned about Huntsman Mental Health Institute’s Mental Health Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP).
The Mental Health IOP is a way to bridge the gap between inpatient and outpatient care for patients age 18 and older. The program provides a more intensive level of care than general outpatient, but a lower level of care than day treatment, residential, or inpatient programs.
“There has always been an area of need, where patients are no longer in need of inpatient services, but traditional outpatient care isn’t enough,” said Huntsman Mental Health Institute’s IOP Operations Manager, Julie Fletcher, MHA. “For patients who are searching for treatment that can help bridge that gap, they can rely on the supportive nature of IOP, until they feel ready for outpatient care again.”
Fletcher, Bryce Herrera, LCSW, and other members of the therapy team helped create the IOP and opened it up as a pilot in June 2024. The program is now open for the public to call and request services, or it can be accessed through a University of Utah Health referral.
Herrera oversees both IOP programs at Huntsman Mental Health Institute.
“With this IOP program, our secret sauce is the group approach,” said Herrera. “We offer different types of group therapy every week, and we do that on purpose so patients get a wide variety.”
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Herrera has been with Huntsman Mental Health Institute for more than a decade, and the community these programs build for patients is powerful.
“I think sometimes we feel like we are alone in whatever it is we are struggling with,” he said. “This is a safe place for patients to have that experience or realization that it’s not just them and they aren’t the only ones struggling with these things. That helps patients feel not so alone, and more understood.”
The power of connection and community
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Each day of the week has a different focus, including group therapy, friends and family night, expressive therapy, and skills education. Most patients are in the program for six to eight weeks. They spend that time connecting not only with mental health providers, but also other patients who are facing similar challenges.
“There is just so much power in community, and hearing from others who are going through similar experiences,” said Fletcher. “Sometimes, this can be even more influential than talking one on one with a trained clinician. We highly recommend the benefits of having both together, whether participants are seeing an outpatient provider through us or a community partner.”
For Esti, who had been inpatient for three months, IOP seemed like a great next step.
“For me, it was a great experience...I was stepping back into life, stepping back into work, and those weekly meetings helped me integrate everything I had already learned, while learning even more helpful skills.”
Beyond the skills learned, the IOP program was a safe space.
“That was really important for me,” they said. “It hasn’t been easy for me the past couple of years, and I really appreciated how they were supporting me.”
Esti also appreciated the opportunity for family and friends to be a part of the program.
“Friends and family was really cool because you could bring in people from your life,” they said. “You both get educated on interpersonal effectiveness, how to set boundaries, and how to navigate conflict. It was a cool way to educate the people in your life.”
Esti has a great support system, with family and friends.
“Both of my parents are completely supportive, and they helped me get access to all of the treatment I needed,” they said. “I have some really supportive friends, too.”
But for Esti, support from friends and family isn’t the whole picture .
“That’s why I liked this program,” they said. “You are surrounded by people who know what you are going through, from personal experience.”
Esti was part of the IOP for eight weeks. They had their last session on June 5, 2025.
“I’m doing really, really good,” they said.
An intention they set while in the program was to get more structure, support, and community in their life. In September, they joined a Salt Lake Roller Derby crash course.
“Roller derby is such an inclusive and friendly space,” they said. “They focus a lot on trying to spread the message that roller derby is for everybody.”
Putting down new roots
“While I was in IOP, my dad hired me to pick out 150 new native plants for his backyard,” they said. “We did that this year, and things are going to fill in really good over the next few years. I’m really excited about that.”
After finishing treatment, and continuing personal landscaping projects, they decided to officially reroute their career and go back to school to study botany.
“This new path has really helped revive my sense of curiosity and excitement, and it’s been really cool to get into it,” Esti said. “I also just got an internship with the Cottonwood Canyons Foundation, and I’ll get to learn even more about native Utah plants and how to take better care of the land.”
They will even be able to use their math degree for some of the more technical mathematical aspects of botany.
“Before IOP, I couldn’t imagine a future for myself,” mentions Esti, “Now I feel like I have options again, and that there are so many amazing ways for me to move forward in life.”
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