Hi! I’m Angela
I believe you shouldn’t need to have a master’s degree to understand your world – why you do the things you do, what your relationship issues are really about, and how to raise confident, functional adults. It took me a very long and “beautifully ugly” journey to get to where I am today.
Before I ever became a therapist, I was someone trying to make sense of my own story. Childhood trauma had followed me into adulthood, marriage, motherhood, and every corner of my life.
It took a traumatic birth experience & severe postpartum depression to lead me to the International Cesarean Awareness Network (ICAN) — The women of ICAN were my first “village.” They didn’t flinch at my pain. They understood it. For the first time in my life, I felt seen. They also sparked something in me: the desire to support others. That’s how I became a childbirth doula and educator, supporting women who had also had also experienced traumatic births.
A cross‑country move with a toddler and a newborn brought me to another village — a group of moms who taught me how to “mom” when I felt like I was drowning. I was barely functioning as a mother — my husband was basically a single parent. My daughters deserved better.
Years of therapy gave me the courage to take a chance on myself: to get my GED and go to college — something I never thought I was capable of. I started to believe I could do hard things. I earned my associate’s degree, then my bachelor’s degree. I just kept going.
My third year of college gave me devastating news that rocked me to my core — the trauma I had experienced decades earlier went even deeper than I ever could have imagined. It also lit a fire under me that was not to be reckoned with. I remember telling my therapist, “Something good had to come out of all that I went through. Otherwise, I’m just a life wasted.” She asked me what I was going to do about it.
One of the women from ICAN once wrote about the “ripple effect” — the idea that one person touching one life can create far‑reaching impact. That idea stayed with me. So I decided to carry the ripple forward. I went all‑in on myself. I decided to get a master’s degree so I could become a therapist.
Now, I use my lived experience, the gifts from the people who helped me find my way — the women of ICAN who helped me find my voice, the village of moms who taught me how to mom, my family that supported me through my “beautifully ugly” journey — and my training in mental health to carry on the ripple, one client at a time.
When it came time to name my practice, I wanted to honor that journey, and the spark that started it all. I Can THRIVE Counseling does both:
“I Can” → ICAN — the community that helped me find my voice.
THRIVE → what therapy helped me finally do.
This blog is about taking that ripple beyond the walls of my office. Here, I break down complex concepts — mental health, relationships, parenting, and more — in ways that are easy for anyone to understand. Because you shouldn’t need a master’s degree to understand your world, or to create a better one for yourself and the ripple of people on your own journey.
Welcome to the blog.
I’m glad you’re here.
