LMHC
Founder & Principal Psychotherapist
Edwin is a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in New York who specializes in trauma informed and whole person psychotherapy.
Adopted by a family outside of Seattle, Edwin was malnourished, neurodivergent and suffered hearing loss. At first Doctors were sure his life would be short and regularly reinforced the significant limitations he would experience if he did survive. Not only did he defy the odds, Edwin's natural ability for counseling was visible from an early age, though his passion for working with people conflicted with the limitations that were imposed on him by well-meaning professionals.
After high school, Edwin explored trades and while he achieved certifications in Culinary Arts and Emergency Medical Services, then later a Bachelor’s degree, he found himself largely unfulfilled. He found more fulfillment in an hour of listening to the countertop installer talk about the struggles in his marriage, than the other 39 hours of managing as many as 200 doors as a building manager in Seattle.
Wrapping up 15 unrewarding years across three industries, Edwin and his wife Jennifer took off on an adventure sabbatical, living out of their car, driving around Canada and the US for a year. When they drove into New York in early 2016 the city quickly captivated them and they couldn't bring themselves to leave. Now they can't imagine being anywhere else.
Edwin has since graduated with a Masters in Mental Health Counseling and has been licensed by New York State in addition to being certified as a Highlands Consultant and completing training in EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing). Edwin has also previously served as Board Member of a nonprofit which works to overcome stigma and provide hope through storytelling.
Licensed Mental Health Counselor, New York State
Masters in Mental Health Counseling, Alliance University
Highlands Certified Consultant, Highlands Company
EMDR Training Completed
Jennifer is an Operations and Human Resources leader with more than 18 years of experience supporting nonprofit, social services and healthcare sectors.
Jennifer spent her first 25 years in small towns across the 3 western provinces in Canada before meeting her Seattle-native husband, Edwin, and immigrating to the US. They lived in Seattle for 4 years before taking off on a year-long adventure sabbatical. Jennifer had fallen in love with New York City as a teenager through the movies, so when their adventure sabbatical brought them to NYC, Jennifer was immediately captivated.
Jennifer has a diverse career background. She is trained in Advanced Esthetics and worked at a resort spa for 5 years before shifting to a Health Canada pilot-project for youth experiencing psychosocial consequences due to substance use all while volunteer project managing a weekly youth program and leading Saskatchewan’s largest chem-free New Year’s Eve Party for teens. Jennifer has also managed multi-unit residential buildings, accounts receivable for a marine fuel company, and operations for a biotech firm.
Jennifer has always been oriented towards process management, project management, and internal operations though having grown up in small towns, she was struggling to find a career where those skills were the primary driver to serve the community, leading her to spend a decade volunteering nearly as much as she worked to find a fulfilling outlet. Jennifer had the opportunity to take the Highlands Ability Battery assessment which gave language and definition to her unique set of skills and opened her up to career paths that weren’t available in the small towns she grew up in. Jennifer then completed a Bachelor of Science in Organizational Management from Alliance University, a Certificate from Cornell University, obtained certifications from the Association for Talent Development and the Society for Human Resource Management and found her niche, supporting internal operations and programs for nonprofits and community focused services.
In addition to leading business operations for Reframed Mental Health, Jennifer currently serves a local nonprofit as the Director of Operations & Finance.