I’m a wife of 33 years to my sweetheart, Glen – my “St. Joseph”. Isn’t he just the handsomest gentleman? I grow deeper in love and more in union with him with the passage of time. He’s my rock, and my bridegroom that points me to Jesus, the Bridegroom.
I am “Mama” to these three beautiful children, Amanda, Jacob and Olivia, who are now grown and on their journey of young adulthood. It’s an exciting season of life to see them blossom into their creation and vocations, as well as to experience fully the new season of transition for Glen and I as the parents of adult children, and a husband and wife in our nest without little bitty birdies. Our home seems much bigger now than it used to. To Glen and I, these three beautiful people are the most precious gifts of our lives. The years of their childhood and adolescence seemed to pass by so very quickly… I miss those years, but am enjoying this new phase of life.
Where I’m Coming From…
Who am I? And why am I here? What’s my purpose, and the meaning of this life? Don’t we all desire answers to these questions? These questions are so important to our hearts and minds, and have to do so much with our identity. My identity (and it’s taken a while to fully comprehend this beautiful truth) is first, as a beloved daughter of the Most High God, secondly as wife to Glen and mom to my children. My faith and my family are my primary vocations in this life…..Period. Thanks be to God! I’m so grateful for the love of God and my family! If I keep these priorities in heart and mind, it’s amazing how the rest of life flows so beautifully thereafter, no matter what comes our way. Life is messy, ya’ll, so it’s incredibly important to be grounded in who we are and why we are here, and to allow that to inform the rest of what life brings us, or what we invite in.
Following that, the most important thing to know about me is…I love people. I mean, I REALLY love people! All people! And, I love LOVE. And, I love the Truth, the actual pursuit of Truth, and have come to understand that there is indeed objective truth despite a world that seems to only see relativism. I seek the Truth always – not MY truth but THE truth – and I choose to conform to whatever that is. Why is that? Because, indeed, the Truth does set us free!
You will find that I focus a lot of my work on identity and the human person, faith and the heart and beauty, and freedom to choose the good that we are all created for which leads us to health and wellness in our thinking, our actions, and our relationships. Pursuing the True, the Good, and the Beautiful brings such joy to my heart!
Through an intellectual process coupled with quite a faith journey, I’ve come to view creation through a beautiful lens full of love for my brothers and sisters. By personal philosophy, I believe in the dignity of the human person – that each and every person is of equal, inherent, indestructible, and indescribably beautiful dignity from the moment of conception to the moment of natural death into eternity. I am moved and informed especially by the personalism and philosophical works of Karol Wojtyla (whom you may know as Pope Saint John Paul II) as well as that of Edith Stein (St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross), Dietrich von Hildebrand, and others. Having been trained and mired for years in secular humanism and found it wanting, these and similar well-springs of knowledge have spoken to my heart about the beauty of the human person. The culmination of my life experiences, and well-rounded personal and professional educational pursuits inform literally everything that I do, and I love sharing that with all of you!
Despite the obvious – that I’m sharing a good bit about myself with you – I think it’s important to note that I’m actually a pretty private person by nature who enjoys being quiet. I’m also a really busy, entrepreneurial woman, though money is not what moves me. Faith, family, and love of God and my neighbor do. Being involved in the type of work that I’m in involves being somewhat in the public eye. I find that challenging. In fact, the whole public persona thing and the necessary sharing-a-bit-more-about-yourself-over-and-above-what-you’d-normally-need-to stuff which is part of that work is something I’ve struggled with. I’m not a person that has an overt need to “out there”. But, in the end, if you know you are called to do a certain work that requires a certain level of “being out there”, with grace and courage you must open and say “Yes” to that – and then, as we say in the South, “get after it”! We are living in a very confusing world in which there is much brokenness and heartache. Through all aspects of my work, I hope to offer grounded, sound perspectives to help others make some sense and find some peace among the chaos.
With that said, here are some things about me as a person that might help you know a little more about the perspective that permeates my work and everything I do.
As part of my work as a Psych NP, I’m a:
- Producer and Host of the Faith and Good Counsel Show since 2012
- Speaker, Educator and Writer on numerous topics in the intersection of Faith, Mental Health & overall Wellness
I have a tremendous love for learning! I’m getting to be a little “seasoned” by time (my age, ya’ll) and life experience, as well as by the substantial amount of education that I’ve been graced with and am so grateful for. Here’s a sampling of what informs my work:
- I’m a Board-Certified Family Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner with a Master’s Degree in Psychiatric-Mental Health NP & Clinical Nurse Specialist, and have earned a post-graduate certification as Master Psychopharmacologist, as well as a post-graduate fellowship in Infant Mental Health (Attachment intervention with mothers, fathers, and children for the prevention and treatment of psychiatric disorders in children and family dysfunction).
- Formerly, I was a Labor & Delivery/High-Risk Perinatal Registered Nurse, a Legal Nurse Consultant Certified and Nurse Entrepreneur. I’ve seen a lot from a number of perspectives in my years as an RN, and then as a Psych NP. It was a great gift to be able to bring many years of varied experiences in these areas to my work as a Psych NP, serving women, men, children & adolescents, young adults with a variety of mental health problems, as well as helping couples with marriage, family, and parenting issues.
- I completed the NaproTechnology Medical Consultant and Creighton Model Fertility Care Practitioner program of the Pope Paul VI Center in Omaha, NE under the direction and teaching of Dr. Thomas Hilgers, and taught the Creighton Model to a number of clients.
- In 2015, completed the Health Care Ethics from the National Catholic Bioethics Center Certification program, culminating with a research paper on attachment and psychiatric implications inherent in gestational surrogacy. An abridged, edited version was published in the October 2015 issue of Ethics & Medics, a publication of the NCBC Center.
- I’m working towards certification in Theology of the Body Certification through the Theology of the Body Institute. After studying TOB on my own for a number of years, it is a distinct blessing to immerse at the institute with each course. Not only is it incredibly informative and deeply inspiring, but also profoundly healing to my own brokenness as a human person. There is no equal to growing ever deeper in knowing your true identity and creation by God our Father in love that is so deep and so immense that human minds and hearts cannot comprehend it fully.
- I’m a member of the:
- I support the work and mission of the:
- Theology of the Body Institute
- National Catholic Bioethics Center
- Healthcare Professionals for Divine Mercy & Nurses for Divine Mercy
- Numerous other professional organizations and apostolates
On my more creative side:
- I’m a classically-trained Soprano. You can check out my first CD, “Sacred” on ITunes.
So, enough already about me. I would love to hear from you! Please do let me know your thoughts on the blog, or perhaps what you’d like to see (or hear) discussed or presented. I’m happy also to entertain questions you may have to the best of my ability. However, it is important to keep in mind that I do not, cannot (and will not) offer anything that may be perceived in any way as assessment, diagnosis, treatment, or therapy of any kind on this site. Simply put, it’s just not the purpose or intention of this aspect of my work on this site. There are many fine therapists and mental health, and other health care providers that are ready to help and can provide that level of assistance to you should you find the need.
What I do hope that you will find on my blog is perhaps a bit of information, a pearl of wisdom or another way of contemplating life and situations through the experiences, stories, and resources that are shared which may be inspiring or helpful to you. And, I look forward to learning from you as well!
Just drop me a line right here:
May our restless hearts find rest in Him.
In the hearts of Jesus, Mary and Joseph,
Staci