A NOTE FROM THE FOUNDER…

I am eight years old and sitting at the top of a tree that overlooks my house. I know that what is happening in my house is wrong. They are all older than me and I don't know why they don't know it’s wrong, too. There is no one that I feel safe enough with to share my feelings of sadness, confusion and shame. They are grown-ups and I am a child. Who will believe me?

It is in this moment that something changed inside of me. My eight-year old self knew that no one should feel like I do. No one should feel alone. I knew what pain and isolation felt like, and I began to try to understand what would make me feel better. What would make me feel understood and safe again? As I grew and worked through these personal experiences, I began to put a name on the conviction that took root on that warm summer day sitting atop my backyard tree. My tears and fear transform into clarity and resolve. It is now my life's purpose: to use my own journey, coupled with professional education, to help others as a counselor.  

I’ve had many critical incidents and influences in my life that brought me to my decision to become a therapist. I was born into an Irish Roman Catholic family in New York. Six boys were born before me; I was the last child of seven. No dreams. No goals. Both sets of my Grandparents died before I knew them. All died from alcoholism. Aunts, Uncles, and cousins came in and out of my life, most of whom suffered with the disease of alcoholism and drug addiction. In turn came abuse and neglect.

Then came Muriel. She is the person that saved my life and would be a mother to me. She cared for me, loved me, and was the strong and good force in my life.  She always held my hand proudly and tightly. She had tremendous grace and poise. She taught me that I was to hold my head up high no matter what was going on around me; which, at times, felt almost impossible for me because I spent much of my early life with my head down, always feeling less than and ashamed of myself but I had no idea why.

After my freshman year of high school, life at home became more violent. So, at the age of thirteen I asked my mother if I should leave and she said yes.  Looking back on that critical moment in my life, I felt conflicted. I felt shattered that my mother wanted me to leave home, but I also knew that if I ever had a daughter she would never know what it felt like to have a mother that would discard her. I ended up living with the Sisters of The Sacred Heart. Muriel and Sacred Heart showed me I could do anything. They instilled in me a drive to do service and help others with less. Many great teachers and counselors along the way showed me I deserved a life filled with love and goodness.

I came to Washington D.C. and attended the American University where I graduated in 1987 with a BA in Visual Media Communications and began to work in television in D.C. I was always haunted with the thought that I was not good enough, talented in any way, or deserving of opportunity.  My childhood feelings of unworthiness never left me. I can now look back and see how I sabotaged myself and my own success.

I failed so many times in relationships and in my career, but the resilience that I found when I was that eight-year-old girl helped me get up and keep going. Over the next twenty years, I was blessed to have great people and therapists in my life who helped me believe there was good in me. Because of all that was given to me, I realized I could go back to school and become what I had always wanted to be, a therapist.

After nearly 30 years, I returned to school for my Master’s Degree. I was flooded with personal messages of insignificance, lack of intelligence, and worthlessness that I was taught early in life. I was not a good student, didn’t know how to use a computer, and couldn’t write a paper. But I persevered. I was accepted at The Johns Hopkins University. My daughter taught me how to write a paper, my son corrected my homework, and my husband patiently showed me how to use a computer. I tried to quit every day, but my children said, “Oh I know mom, it’s hard but you told us we can’t quite because something is hard”. I ended up graduating at the top of my class with a degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and as a member of The International Honor Society for Counseling.

I get up every day and work to help people find their resilience and show them they are strong, worthy, and valuable.