My background is in Psychology with a focus on trauma. I was raised in a family that looked like a "successful" family from the outside, but internally, I lived in a different world. I was raised by two amazing parents who were doing the best that they could at the time, but I experienced emotional neglect. I was sexually abused as a kid and I was asked to never speak about it again; "dirty laundry stays at home." Feeling my feelings and emotions terrified me, because I was not encouraged to express them; I was asked to shut them down, with a voice of anger or humiliation. Growing up in a dysfunctional family that appeared to be "healthy" from the outside, combined with social pressure, my dad unexpectedly leaving "home", two months before one of my closest friends committed suicide, was crippling. I was diagnosed with major depression at 18, but as a therapist, I would have diagnosed myself a lot younger. I would love to write that my life got better after my childhood, but because that was the only "model" I knew, the following years were filled with psychological, sexual and physical abuse, despite being a psychologist. I moved to the United States in 2015 and accredited my Bachelors Degree this year. Yes, 2025. For many years I wondered what my purpose in life was. "What did I do to deserve this?" turned into "Now I get to serve them" (trauma survivors). My goal is to make people feel better--whether it's a stranger at the store I "bumped" into, a student, a neighbor, a friend. I understand what it's like to have a narcissistic, abusive father. I know what it's like to have a submissive, passive aggressive mother, who allowed my dad to humiliate her in public and abuse her, and also myself. I understand what it's like to lose loved ones to suicide (I've lost two angels). I understand what it's like to experience multiple losses in a year. I understand what it's like to be out of work for months due to an injury (I was in a car accident and left with spine issues). I understand what it's like to have chronic pain. I understand feeling and asking myself, "Will I ever be happy?" As an adult, I had many experiences with narcissistic men who were emotionally unavailable, and would end up ghosted or abandoned. I also fell into codependent relationships, worsening my emotional state. I learned trauma is something not everyone understands, and that's ok. I do however, understand what it's like to feel that indescribable pain. It took me a long time. Years. But now I understand that I do have a voice. I understand that my past does not define me. My abusers don't define me. I may "feel" broken, but I know that I am not, and I can assure you, you aren't either. And the best part: we get to reparent ourselves, and give ourselves what we always needed but never received. And then we get to pass that on to other people. To me, that's how we can collectively make this world a better place.