Today we’d like to introduce you to Elizabeth Westbrook.
Hi Elizabeth, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start, maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers.
I received my bachelor’s degree in social work from the University of Kansas in 2010. After graduation, I worked in a PRTF (psychiatric residential treatment facility) until I gave birth to my oldest daughter. I found motherhood to be challenging early on after relocating away from family, so I devoted myself to raising my oldest three children for about 10 years. I’ve always dabbled in entrepreneurship and ultimately founded (and have since closed) a nonprofit organization. That led me to discover in order to have the impact I wanted in my community; I’d need to finish my master’s degree. I found myself in the middle of a devastating divorce, suddenly a single mother with three children, in Graduate School, and working for a mental health organization.
My life truly turned ashes into beauty as I became a Family Facilitator, working to keep blended families out of litigation and graduating with my master’s in social work so I could have a career in private practice. My husband, Thomas, and I have a son, and our blended family with four children is a remarkable testimony to what a commitment to collaborative co-parenting and redemption in trauma recovery and remarriage can look like. I’m proud to use my story of devastation and tragedy to empower my clients at Here Comes the Sun Counseling in Katy as well as through Family Facilitation services through the consulting firm I co-own with my husband, Westbrook Solutions.
My passion to destigmatize mental health imbalances and shame from divorce is a powerful asset. I believe in providing space for individuals to process their deep hurts and come to understand that healing is not only powerful but possible.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I had a lot of fear about what others would think about me as I stepped into a new profession. I’d been known in my community with a certain name and vocation for so long that starting over felt next to impossible. I’m fortunate to have a few powerful businesswomen around me who challenged me to use my story to impact others which led me to create an online resource for divorcees and coparents on Instagram called @grayboxresources. It provides me space to speak to the nitty gritty pieces of co-parenting, even if it’s not a road I’d have ever wished for myself.
In addition to the bumps of working to redefine who I am, I find myself needing to travel frequently to Kansas to care for my family as my mom is recently disabled after a stroke. The pressures of showing up for family while having a new, young one of my own creates opportunities for me to question my impact and my priorities often. I’m thankful to be careful with my “yes” and consider the cost of committing to speaking engagements and the like, but I do believe that my ability to thrive in the pressures of young motherhood, professionalism, and a desire to share the redemptive love of Christ that I’ve found is made infinitely easier because of the support of Thomas.
Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
My heart lies with the shame-filled and brokenhearted, the busy professional who is wearing too many hats and unsure where to set boundaries, the family that is hurting, and those wounded by religion or the opinions of others. I have a primary focus in working with those who are part of both the LGBTQ+ and faith-based communities, individuals navigating sexual, betrayal, and other traumas, blended families, and the uncertain client who has found themselves questioning who they are and who they want to be.
I am an Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) trained practitioner, providing support for clients who have experienced significant trauma.
My desire is to empower you with community resources, access to a wide range of support, and a commitment to providing a space free of judgement or imposing beliefs.
The road to healing is not linear and not done well in isolation. My deepest desire as a psychotherapist is to help you discover what you value, make sense of who the world says you need to be, create an environment where you come to believe that you’re never a sum of the worst things that have been done to, or by you.
One of the greatest things I’ve done in my career is create multiple events geared towards women and dispelling mental health stigmas to open a candid dialogue around what it means to be successful and confident even when battling mental health imbalances. The most recent work will be on May 1 in Katy called “Here Comes the Sun, Katy Day,” where Here Comes the Sun Counseling is throwing a community-wide block party with dozens of local businesses to align ourselves all month long as places that support mental wellness of those in our area. We believe that creating spaces for the public to know they can come as they are is vital to the work of empowering men, women, and teens to speak freely about what they need, and what they’ve overcome.
I believe our stories make us stronger, and when we have spaces to share them, shame dissipates, and healing comes.
In addition to working in private practice, I am committed to working with families who are struggling to co-parent as a Family Facilitator. This helps save money and mitigate conflict caused by the family court system that is wildly overrun. In any way I can be an agent of change around the dialogue about what it means to divorce without having an agenda to ruin lives or profit off other’s pain- I’m all in.
What do you like and dislike about the city?
I love the culinary diversity and opportunity to swap stories about where we’ve been that landed us in this great city. If the weather could stay below 70 year-round, I’d appreciate it. Being from the Midwest, I have an affinity for snow, so summers are difficult for this Kansan.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.elizabeth-westbrook.com
- Instagram: @thesneakerheadtherapist
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabeth-westbrook-lmsw/
- Other: instagram @grayboxresources
Image Credits
Barbara Zelaya
Naranja Dulce Photography
Ailecia Ruscin
Oh! Snap! Photography
Colt Melrose Photography
