Today we’d like to introduce you to Gwen Brehm.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I grew up south of Houston in a seemingly normal family with a seemingly normal life. We had all our needs met and enjoyed some really great times together. It wasn’t until I went through a traumatic marriage and worked through some healing that I recognized there was trauma in my background that not only had not been healed, but I had not even been aware of.
This is probably what unconsciously got me into mental health. Like a lot of therapists, perhaps I was unknowingly trying to heal myself. As a psychotherapist, if you do not address your own issues throughout your life, it is difficult for you to guide others to do the same. Hence, I had to work on myself. This all came to fruition in the late 1990’s and early 2000’s when I went through a divorce after some traumatic experiences. I don’t talk much about the domestic violence that occurred in my marriage, but it was horrific. And made a huge impact on how I related to others. I am so grateful to the people, the skills, and the practices that I have experienced over the past 20 years that have led me to where I am today. I aim to continue to help others find their healing path.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Geez! My road has been anything but smooth. Professionally I have had some great opportunities- from teaching at universities in Texas, working at UTMB in the department of Psychiatry, running some trainings- even without a PhD I got a lot of notoriety for the work I have done. In 2017, after Hurricane Harvey, I created the Greater Houston Healing Collaborative to help those who flooded find the mental health and trauma recovery they needed. We partnered with the Center for Mind Body Medicine out of Washington DC and trained over 120 people in the model of community self-care. Our work in the model of self- healing has continued at the Institute of Spirituality and Health in the Medical Center. We have reached over 60,000 people since 2017. As a result, I have continued to work with CMBM and am on faculty with them. And I am still running my own private practice working with people helping them heal from trauma, depression, anxiety, etc. and do a lot of public speaking on these topics.
Personally, it was not an easy road. I raised my 3 children by myself for 10 years. There were challenges financially as well as personally. But these obstacles really helped forge who I am today. So even though I did not exactly enjoy them, I can see how they built my strength and resilience. My children will also say that the challenges made them better people as well. I even got good at repairing my own washer and dryer! And have a lot of handyman skills that I never aspired to attain.
Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Brehm Psychotherapy and Consulting?
I think I am best known for working with challenging mental health clients. Don’t get me wrong, not all my clients fit into that box. But often when another therapist has a client that is stuck and can’t seem to move forward they send them to me. My practice focuses on trauma and working each day doing one little thing to move the needle towards healing. I have an integrated approach where I use alternative healing modalities that I teach, and can refer for specialties that I do not offer- like medication or EMDR.
At my practice I also offer a unique approach to trauma healing that incorporates 3 areas of healing: Safety, Connection, and Meaning. Each area includes specific skills to create healing. I am truly a skills-based therapist, so if someone is looking for a therapist that just validates and holds their hand- that is not me. Not that I am not compassionate, I think compassion is my super power. But that compassion drives me to motivate people to change and improve their lives.
Part of my practice is working with individuals, another part is offering trainings and speaking engagements. Quarterly I partner with a couple of organizations and we offer one day retreats for Veterans. I also have a personal healing retreat that I conduct twice a year. You can find more of that on my website. I am all about healing and growing! I will do whatever I can to help people find the path they need to grow and find meaning in their lives.
Another bonus: the healing modality that I use to help with trauma is adaptable to businesses. I can help a business who has encountered a traumatic event move through it and create a more sustainable and viable work environment and work flow. I have responded to work disasters, natural disasters, community trauma, and school shootings. Currently I have been working in Central Texas after the flood to help the victims and residents of Kerr County.
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
Never give up! Be persistent! Challenges will come, they always do. But as Ryan Holiday claims- the Obstacle is the Way! We must continue to see our obstacles as ways to learn lessons and to move towards growth. I work every day to become a better person in service to others. I have learned a lot of these lessons by participating in an organization called Heroic, founded by Brian Johnson, a modern-day philosopher. All these lessons align with my faith practice and help me to achieve my vision.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.gwenbrehm.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gwen.brehm/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gwenbrehm1
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gwen-brehm/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MentalHealthWarriorTX
