Meet Elizabeth

I want to share three little stories about my life, small peeks into who I am, to help you understand a couple of my core values - values that are foundational to The Harbor.

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EMPATHY: When I was 4 years old, I cried and cried and cried seeing The Little Mermaid in theaters. It was not *scary Ursula* that had me sobbing - no - I ACTUALLY thought if Ariel couldn't see her Daddy anymore, I might not be able to see my Daddy anymore. Needless to say, I've always had empathy down pat. I am, what my momma calls, "tender-hearted".

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CONNECTION: Saying goodbye also gets me every. dang. time. Whether I was leaving a firework-blasting, sand-castle-building, card-playing filled week at the beach with my cousins or saying goodbye to new friends that were forged amidst talent shows and thousands of mosquito bites at summer camp or even as recently as two weeks ago when I parted ways with one of my best friends in an airport - goodbyes are basically a guarantee that I will (you guessed it) weep. I believe this speaks to my deep reverence for connection. I've always known that life is better when lived in tandem with those we trust and enjoy.

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LISTENING TO UNDERSTAND: Now, my aforementioned Daddy (who thankfully I did see at home after leaving the theater) has always been a tech guy. He was an early adopter of both the Personal Computer and dial-up internet, and thanks to him, I was an early adopter of burning mixed CDs and the Paperclip helper in Microsoft Word and my personal favorite: AOL Instant Messenger. Starting as early as middle school, I found myself chatting with peers about all kinds of life situations - some silly, many confusing, and occasionally even sad. What I realized, years after the fact, is that AIM gave me a place to hone my skill of listening to understand. I'm naturally an "old soul" - curious and kind - and while I'm sure I offered some bad advice, I also know that via those hours chatting, I left many kids feeling seen, heard, and understood.

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Now that you've had these three little glimpses into who I am, it's probably no wonder to you that I would go on to get an undergraduate degree in Art Therapy and a masters in Marriage and Family Therapy. You also probably wouldn't be all that surprised to hear that one week after I became a fully licensed therapist, I took over the role as Executive Director of a non-profit that trains Marriage and Family Therapists. To me, this was a way to impact the therapy world multi-fold by ensuring more and more high-quality clinicians were making it out into the field. Then after a few years in that role, life (and love) called me to Charleston where I've been doing clinical work ever since - briefly in a group practice and then in private practice.

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Then about 6 months ago, a dear friend of mine sent me a Marco Polo that said, "I just had an absolutely terrible session with a client. I really need to process what happened and strategize a plan for our next session. Would you come have coffee and talk it out with me?" The next day we sat on her back porch and poured over the case. I empathized with how bad it feels to walk out of a session that was just *off*, I connected with her over our shared meal and shared experience, and I listened to understand about how she was conceptualizing this case, what she had already tried, and where she hoped she could go with this client. I offered her some ideas she hadn't considered, and we made a game plan for how she could move forward. To be honest, after I left, I didn't think much of it. It felt good to help her, but I've made very similar calls to her and other trusted colleagues, and I've had plenty of clinicians reach out to me over the years for this kind of consultation. But about three weeks later, she sent me another Marco Polo and said, "have you ever thought about offering consultation as a service? You helped me tremendously with that case and so many therapists could benefit from talking through their work with you." This got my wheels turning and The Harbor was born!

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I intend to use empathy, connection, and listening to understand as guiding values to create a professional respite for you - the intentional clinician. I hope you'll join me!

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