Our Story
To create a safe place for women to heal has always been my vision. For years I carried this and held it close in my heart, as I held each of my three sons after their births. Spiritually, I knew this would not be a method by which I would someday help women, but rather the mission. As I reflect on my personal journey, I distinguish something about myself that I find to be true of all women. When we feel deeply connected to someone or something that responds positively to our nature, we are careful and intentional to protect and nurture them.
As an eager Marriage and Family Therapy graduate, I completed seminary and encountered each professional opportunity with curiosity. “Was this how, with whom, or where I was meant to fulfill the vision?” The first twenty years of my professional career would prove to be the well from which I drew transformative experiences. I faced the true nature of being a woman during times of uncertainty; I was fiercely devoted to this vision and yet vulnerable to fear of losing it. When threat seemed imminent, I would lament a very personal childhood memory—a warrior wife and protective mother desperately working to revive a loving family grieved by alcoholism. The genesis of my longing to help women began at a young age in my own home. This longing grew stronger when I sat with women as a young therapist and listened to their stories. So, it would be that when Shephearst Meadows opened in the winter of 2009, a new work for women’s wellness would begin. And today, we have the privilege of providing a range of progressive mental health and addiction services exclusively for women that respect the diversity of responsibilities we each have in our relationships and daily lives.
This experience taught me that there are privileges and provisions for all women facing pain or hardship. Further, every woman has a vision within that longs to be realized. The wilderness of loss, betrayal, abuse, trauma, addiction, and declining mental health is real for women. Our longing for meaningful connections and our unique capacity to deeply feel emotion sets us apart as chosen; however, that vulnerability can also leave us broken. We each have been selected to fulfill a purpose on this earth and need the help of our own to accomplish this. With intention, the therapist and staff at Shephearst Meadows are fully committed to building therapeutic relationships with women that allow the safety and attention necessary for healing. Our greatest desire is that your faith and mental health will be restored, and your capacity to trust will be guided by an unyielding inner strength to fulfill your purpose.
