About Us

Mission 

The mission of The Women’s Initiative is to provide effective education, social support, and counseling services to empower women of all ages to transform challenging life situations into opportunities for personal growth and renewed well being.   This mission is based on the understanding that:

• Challenging life events and the accumulative demands of daily living place women at risk for stress-related emotional problems and illness.  Heart disease, diabetes and other diseases causing the highest mortality rates among women today are either directly caused or greatly exacerbated by the wear and tear of the stress response on the body.  The most common mental health problems confronting women -- anxiety and depression -- are also linked to the impact of the stress response on the body.
• By raising awareness of the role the stress response plays in the major physical and emotional problems women face today, it is possible to empower women to take preventative action.
  
• Researched self-care and self-awareness skills are powerful tools available to women to reduce the impact of chronic stress and its toll on mental and physical health.  Women may learn these skills in individual counseling sessions or in groups to reduce emotional distress, improve their health, enhance their relationships and parenting, and achieve greater satisfaction in their work lives.
  
• Social support is a proven means to improving women’s physical and emotional well being.  Educational programs and on-going groups foster a sense of community vital to women’s personal growth.
  

Vision

• The Women’s Initiative seeks to be widely recognized in the community as a valuable resource for women seeking a supportive community in which to explore new approaches to life problems.
  
• Our services will reflect current research in the fields of public health, mind/body medicine, health psychology, trauma, and positive psychology.  Programs will promote evidence-based skills including the relaxation response, breath work, biofeedback, imagery, therapeutic movement, journal writing, expressive art, nutrition, cognitive restructuring, problem solving strategies, and communication techniques.
• We will partner with area agencies and institutions to provide appropriate referrals, complement existing services, and promote greater accessibility of services. 
  

Values

• We believe that to effectively address life problems, it is useful to take into account the totality of a woman’s unique experience – her emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual well being.  By exploring the links between thoughts, feelings, behavior, physical health, and life experiences, women discover how change in one area leads to improvements in other areas.
• We believe that a woman’s natural capacity for healing and renewal is realized through the support of a caring and accepting community and active engagement with self-care and self-awareness skills.
• We believe that every woman has gifts and talents to offer in the service of her most deeply held beliefs and values.  The process of finding and developing these gifts is both a joy and a challenge, and often a critical part of transitioning to a new rewarding phase of life.
  

Goals

We will provide a variety of services that promote a higher quality of life for women facing stressful life situations.  We expect that women receiving our services will report that they have successfully:

• clarified personal values, needs, and goals
• built on personal strengths and resources to meet needs and achieve goals
• mastered skills that promote restorative relaxation, calm and confidence
• initiated life changes that lead to reduced stress and greater well being