Legacy

For Liz, Legacy isn’t about titles or recognition; it’s about making sure fewer families feel alone. When she adopted her son, there wasn’t the language or science we have today to understand adoption-related trauma. The prevailing belief was simple: if a child was adopted at birth and surrounded with love, everything would be fine. But Liz quickly learned that wasn’t the whole story.

She was raising both an adopted child and a biological child, and she could feel, often painfully, that they needed different things. At the time, there were no clear roadmaps, no trauma-informed resources, and no real guidance for parents navigating adoption. Liz did what many parents do: she winged it. But she also made a quiet promise to herself - no other family should have to go through this without support.

Once her children finished high school and she no longer had to pay private school tuition, Liz made a bold decision. She went back to school and earned a counseling degree, not to reinvent herself, but to build what she wished had existed when she needed it most. Her work became deeply personal. She began helping families understand both their own trauma and the trauma their adopted children carried. This is knowledge that can fundamentally change how a family heals and grows together.

Now, as Liz thinks about the future, her focus has shifted from individual impact to lasting impact. The idea of retirement makes her uneasy, not because she’s afraid to stop working, but because she worries about what happens if this knowledge disappears with her. That concern has shaped her next chapter. Rather than focusing only on one-on-one therapy, Liz is teaching and training others to support adoptive families. She’s working with agencies and groups involved in adoption, spreading trauma-informed practices that help parents understand why adopted children need to be raised differently, and how approaches like threats of abandonment or timeouts can do real harm.

Liz has even begun thinking about writing; something tangible that could live on beyond her direct work. Because to her, Legacy means leaving behind tools, language, and understanding that future families can rely on. Her mission is simple but powerful: to ensure that families raising adopted children are supported, informed, and never left to figure it out alone.

“My legacy is making sure families don’t have to struggle alone. I want to offer the same type of knowledge, support, and compassion I once needed."

- Liz