Happy New Year! I’m thrilled to be starting my very first blog as we bring in 2009. I’m honored by each of you reading this launch into a new endeavor and hope that you might be interested in coming back and telling your friends about me and what I intend to offer here.
Let me start out by telling you a little bit about who I am and what I do professionally. My name is Susanne Slay-Westbrook and I’m a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and a Licensed Professional Counselor in the state of TX. Please feel free to check out my website,www.aworldofrespect.com to get further professional background.
I’m also a wife, step-mom and use a motorized wheelchair for my mobility. My life has been anything but a predictable straight line. I didn’t get married till I was 48, and immediately began helping my husband raise his then 10 yr. old son.
Born with Cerebral Palsy in—well, a long time ago—I went through a combination of public and special schools, long before PL94-142, (so maybe you can begin to guess how old I am) jumping grades and being put back, struggling with issues of physical and social barriers, as well as trying to define my personal identity to incorporate my disability yet not be defined by it.
In graduate school, I learned more about the sharp nature of prejudice, spoken and silent, but in my studies of psychology and counseling, I learned much more about choices I could make for living more positively. I began the journey of learning personal coping skills and how to help others develop their own.
I’ve now been in the mental health field 27 yrs.(now you can really do the math!) and have had a chance to work with a great variety of people, learning more about the shared human struggle, pain and resilience we all possess. Based on what I have learned from my clients, several years ago I wrote a book called A World of Respect, and center my therapy around respect, because as I see it, respect is as basic as air or water for any relationship to thrive and is seriously lacking in many relationships.
I also wrote a column in a local newspaper for several years called “The Coping Corner,” which I wish to expand and continue here. The future posts will promise to be much shorter and less about me, focusing on coping strategies around a myriad of life issues we all face, such as the difficulties in relationships, parenting, grief and loss, work stress, depression, and anxiety. I plan to post twice a week, Tuesdays and Fridays for now, about these and other issues. I look forward to your readership, comments and questions. Please share this blog with anyone you know who may benefit. Thank you for your time.
