A few steps ahead — close enough to help.

It wasn’t always this way

Not that long ago, I too struggled to align myself with my purpose, live a life of significance and create my desired future. It wasn’t that I didn’t know what I wanted to do — I lacked the confidence and the courage to take the risk, and I didn’t have someone to guide me through the process.

At almost 45, I decided…

I was almost 45 years of age when I went back to college. Two years later I graduated cum laude with my master’s degree — all while working a full-time job, being a husband and a parent to our two children. In 2008 I resigned from twenty-one years of employment.

Then this happened

Almost six months after my resignation, I underwent open-heart quadruple bypass surgery. It had been just a few months since I’d begun my own private practice in Marriage & Family Therapy — after failing my State Board Exam twice before finally passing. Thank God I came through it. The surgery was a success.

The scar remains, but…

The scar remains as a reminder of the trauma I went through. But it also serves as an encouragement to others that you can overcome setbacks of all kinds.

Another scar I overcame through the power of forgiveness is teenage molestation. It happened in Jamaica, my homeland, and I kept it a secret for over 20 years. Today I speak openly about it, and I wrote a book about forgiveness — Two Steps To ForGIFTness — to encourage others who have had similar experiences.

Why I do this work

Having worked with over 5,000 clients in family, individual and group sessions, I’ve learned that my clients are the experts on their own lives. That freed me to be more present and, through great questions, help them reach their best-hope outcome. Having had counseling myself, I know its value: sometimes it simply takes someone to help us see what we aren’t seeing and hear what we aren’t hearing.

I’ve been married to the same person for more than 30 years, and we’ve been blessed with two wonderful children who are now adults. I’ve learned from a lot of mistakes as a parent, husband and therapist — most of them about poor communication, poor listening, and wanting a quick fix.