This work is both professional and deeply personal.

Before this work I spent more than ten years as a grief and trauma counselor in a variety of clinical settings with individuals and families living through profound loss and trauma: child loss, adolescent bereavement, sexual abuse, domestic violence, families impacted by the 9/11 Pentagon attack, victims of crime, and those in emergency medical situations. 

What brought me to the Grief Recovery Method was watching people do everything right to try and begin to heal from the pain of their loss and still feel stuck. They had talked about it. They had read about it. Something stayed unfinished, and no amount of coping closed the gap.

This program gave me something concrete to hand people. A defined sequence, a set of tools, and an end date. It also helped me navigate my own grief. 

My personal journey as a mom to a teen navigating trauma.

For years, I walked alongside my teen through experiences no young person should ever have to face. As a parent, I found myself navigating the unthinkable—supporting my child through the aftermath of sexual assault, trauma, substance use, mental health challenges and the long, complicated road of grief and trauma that follows. We were doing our best to survive in a world that often expects families to “move on” long before their hearts have even begun to heal.

In those early days, I searched for resources that spoke to the real experience of parents: the grief, the fear, the isolation, the guilt, the fierce love, and the desperate hope that your child will find their way back to themselves. What I found instead were gaps—missing conversations, missing support, and missing guidance for families trying to rebuild in the dark.

My teen’s courage changed me. Their healing journey opened my eyes to how many parents are silently carrying their own grief while trying to hold their children together. And it was in that space—between what families need and what the world offers—that Out of the Shadows was born.

The Out of the Shadows program is the result of lived experience, professional training, and a deep commitment to making sure no parent or teen has to walk this path alone. Out of the Shadows is more than a resource; it’s a place for truth, compassion, and community. A place where parents and teens can finally step out of the darkness of silence and into the light of healing.

You and your family deserve support that honors your story. I’m here to offer it.