When I left my job at NBC as a Talk Show Producer, I knew that there was never going to be a time when fame, fortune, cash and prizes were going to make me happy. Not that I was ever famous, or super wealthy. But I had lived in that world, worked at 30 Rockefeller Plaza for over a decade amidst the affluence and glittery abundance of mid-town Manhattan. Working in the Entertainment Division at NBC was being at celebrity central, especially working on the talk shows.
What I learned, after a while, is that these things cannot sustain deep joy and wonder. Working in that world was not inspiring me, and I felt I was somehow skimming the surface of life. I knew at some point that I was going to move on…
Fast forward…Yes, moving from trauma to transformation is now the name of my game. As it is for most of my peers, we are mostly off the radar, not seeking the limelight and quite happy doing what we do in the privacy of our consulting rooms.
So imagine my surprise and delight when I learned I was going to be honored for my deep dive into psychospiritual matters! This was quite the shockeroo…
Who would have guessed that working with clients through their mysterious process of defrosting grief, recovering from illness, loss, abuse and neglect, teaching skills on emotion regulation, mindfulness, interpersonal effectiveness, finding new purpose in life, and finally building new dreams would be honored? Not me.
Getting kudos for how we work through the muck of it all? Incredible! Clearly, there is no Red Carpet in therapy land! (Perhaps one day, however, when my book is out there, it will become a best seller, and then a blockbuster film…that would be fun and quite the wild ride. Being a bit conflicted about being on the big arena, I will need to continue to choose “Courage over comfort,” as Brené Brown says. Book tours, screenings, interviews, all positive and negative. “Courage over comfort” helps me to accept leaving my safe, small world and moving on!)
In the meantime, it’s wonderful to live in Massachusetts, one of the more enlightened states that takes the time to acknowledge our inner journey, and how important it is to use mental health resources when the going gets tough. Massachusetts is great at de-stigmatizing mental health issues. There is tremendous support here for everyone to get what they need and move on.
The Big Day…
On March 6, 2019, there was a beautiful and moving ceremony at the State House in Boston to honor a few of us maverick social workers who are doing extraordinary things in our practice.
Several politicians gave speeches, Senator Ed Kennedy acknowledged us by name (see his Facebook post below) and there were lots of hugs and cheers throughout the event. In addition, our photos with brief bios were on display in the State House during National Social Work Month in March. (So fun and unexpected!)
Each of us that were honored that day has taken our original graduate training and morphed into providers who are doing unexpected works. We all went past graduate school and expanded into unpredictably useful areas (Click HERE for the original press release.)
My unusual areas of work involve Walk and Talk Therapy, Therapeutic Laughter Training and Dialectical Behavior Therapy. (You can learn more about these topics at my web site, www.lisawessan.com)
I appreciated Senator Ed Kennedy’s comments on Facebook and his ongoing support of our work (see below). It was a special day and fun to be with my magnificent peers.
Here are some photos from the day:
Thank you for sharing in the gratitude and excitement of this moment in my career! It was certainly one of the highlights of my time here in Massachusetts.
Up Next?
The journey continues — and this is truly a shameless plug — I’m an organically wired promoter, and cannot help sharing good science tested information or personal anecdotal results from the Lisa Laboratory of Life! So if you want to keep in touch, you can follow this blog, or send me a message at my web site to receive my periodic newsletter.
Stay tuned for more quality news as we journey together from Trauma to Transformation!
Onward and Upward,
Lisa Wessan
Copyright © by Lisa Wessan 2019. All rights reserved.
The Lighter Side of Transformation 