Wounded Healers

We never want to learn from people who have created lives that are too safe, far from risk or adventure.

Or too hidden—always pretending all is easy and good in the world.

Because we know that life is guaranteed to hit all of us with beautiful sunrises AND violent tornadoes.

I’ve been through a lot, and still far less than some.

But whatever I’ve experienced, both the wonderful and the excruciating,I want to use to help others—to become a wounded healer. I’m sure you do too.

For a long time, I’ve had the dream of creating retreats that use all of my true stories, and your stories, to bring healing.

I am excited to announce that my very first retreat is on the calendar for August 30, 2025!

My husband, Nick and I, are high school sweethearts who have been married for 27 years. As you can read here, in a post I wrote years ago on my website, we have nearly lost our marriage several times—a very painful experience we want to help others avoid or walk through to the other side.

After meeting with different therapists throughout the years, we recently learned the practical, research-based methods based in the Gottmans’ Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work and experienced tools that brought real change in our relationship. So much so, that we decided to become certified in the method.

I have planned a one day retreat where Nick and I share openly about our relationship challenges, and also teach couples about the habits the Gottmans found are scientifically proven to destroy marriages, and the seven principles researched to save them.

Registration will open soon, but join the email waitlist to be the first to know!

Space is limited to 25 couples.

Stay tuned for future retreats I am dreaming up: a women’s mental health retreat (in co-operation with a therapist) and a writer’s retreat—helping you write your stories!

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Finally, sticking with the theme of sharing true stories that heal, I recently had the chance to speak at Oak Hills Church in Eagan, Minnesota on “Things I Wish I Knew in my 40s.” Research has shown that, despite what we’ve been told, that the 40s are the Decade of Unhappiness.

In this talk, I share the things I wish someone had told me before I blew out the candles on my 40th birthday. {But would I have believed them?}

Whether you’re in your 40s, younger or beyond, there are truths here that we all can wrestle with.

Watch HERE.

Hoping June brings beauty and a chance to eat ice cream or run through a sprinkler on a hot summer day!