We recently connected with Gabrielle Morreale and have shared our conversation below.

Gabrielle, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

My business was originally called Gabrielle, LPC, my name, and my profession, pretty simple, right? Well, as my practice grew, I felt like I needed a name that tied into our mission. I was working with my incredible business coach in Jennifer Rollin, and she encouraged me to think of a name that had a great meaning, and that I felt proud of. It took me some time, but I came up with Recovered and Restored Eating Disorder Therapy Center. For short: Recovered and Restored or R and R!! The reason this name is so special to me is because it is tied directly into my own personal recovery. During my recovery from anorexia, I struggled with the concept of “gaining “weight. This idea kept me stuck in my disorder for a very long time for multiple reasons. One of my doctors and my therapist at the time reframed it for me and we started referring to it as restoring weight. Although, at first I was not on board, eventually, I not only started restoring my weight but restoring my life. I am happy to say today I am both recovered and restored. My hope is that everyone who we are able to have the privilege to treat is able to both recover from their eating disorder, whatever that may look like, and restore their life to the fullest. Healing is Possible!!

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

So my full name is Gabrielle but everyone calls me Gabby! I am the owner and clinical director of Recovered and Restored Eating Disorder Therapy Center. I am a Mom to my rainbow daughter Cassie Joy, a wife, an aunt and an eating disorder specialist and survivor. Professionally I am a Licensed Professional Counselor in Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey and SouthCarolina, Florida. I received my masters degree from Rosemont College in 2012 and I have been a therapist ever since. I wanted to become a counselor after my own struggles with an eating disorder and OCD. I am passionate about helping others heal and creating a practice where individuals can feel safe and being healing from their eating disorder, disordered eating, anxiety and OCD. I also hope all of our clients can feel loved, accepted, and understood. What makes Recovered and Restored special is that we are a team of health at every size recovered professionals. We deeply believe that healing is possible and that recovery looks different for everyone. We use an eclectic and relational therapy approach to help our clients on their journeys. Most importantly we believe that you are the expert on YOU and your lived experiences are deeply valuable. I personally am the most proud of my recovery, my practice and my amazing daughter Cassie Joy!

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

This story is a bit more personal than professional. I think the journey to have my daughter shows my grit and resilience. My daughter is a rainbow baby which means she is a child after loss. Even more importantly, she is an IVF baby which I had to go through two different rounds of IVF and multiple rounds of fertility treatments to be able to have her. She is the absolute best thing that ever happened to me. To give you perspective my husband and I tried for Cassie for three years. Prior to Cassie we were pregnant with our daughter Hannah who we lost in the first trimester of a pregnancy. As difficult as it was and as much as I wanted to give up, I knew I couldn’t. I knew my sweet precious girl would be worth it. After the loss, I took everything in me to continue to function, to keep running my business, to keep being a friend, a wife, a daughter, a dog mom, a therapist, everything. But with all of my grits and everything I had in me, I did one more round of IVF. This round gave me my beautiful daughter Cassandra Joy. It was not easy but it was 1000% worth it. For anyone who has been through IVF or experienced pregnancy loss please know you are not alone sending you all so much compassion.

Any advice for managing a team?

It’s very simple the golden rule. Treat others the way you want to be treated. My team is my family. I care deeply for them and can’t speak more highly of what motivated, dedicated, compassionate individuals they are! Recovered and Restored would not be the practice it is without them!! They have been with me through so much and they continue to rise to the occasion daily. I feel lucky to know them and to do life with them. Because I view them as family, I treat them like family. I’m not their boss, I’m their teammate. We are a collective group who compassionately take care of others while we also take care of ourselves. We are human first and we have a culture that reflects that! Being a therapist is the highest honor. We get to share the most intimate details of others lives on a daily basis it is gratifying, amazing, and exhausting at times. We all help keep each other, grounded, motivated, and encouraged. I couldn’t be more thankful for my team and the practice we’ve built together. If you are managing a team treating your team like family or the way you would like to be treated is the best advice I can give. Also remember no one goes to work to mess up so lead with grace and compassion!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.recoveredandrestoredtherapy.com
• Instagram: @GabrielleLPC @RecoveredandRestored
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RecoveredandRestoredTherapy