Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Keisha Wells. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Alright, Keisha thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Was there a defining moment in your professional career? A moment that changed the trajectory of your career?

There will never be a more defining or meaningful date for me than April 14, 2007—the date I birthed my twin sons, Kyle and Kendrick, who were born prematurely at 23 weeks gestation. My precious sons lived for a brief but purposed and powerful time and because of their lifetimes, my life’s purpose is forever changed. This profound loss altered my identity, profession, and overall life.
As a young girl who loved to read and enjoy countless hours lost in the pages of my favorite author’s latest tale, my career plan was undoubtedly to be a professional writer and journalist. Supporting individuals as a mental health therapist was not on my career horizon. Reading and writing have always been such a positive force in my life. And I set out on that path, pursuing a bachelor’s degree in professional writing and accepting a writing and editing job for my first professional position. My career path as a professional writer and editor was budding when I unexpectedly faced pregnancy and, later, the abrupt loss of my precious sons. Grieving my sons’ absence and the dreams and hopes I had in mothering them prompted me to seek counseling and learn how to manage this lifelong grieving and healing journey.

In the genesis of my grieving and healing journey, I learned that so many individuals— one in four families—are impacted by pregnancy and infant loss. I learned that a growing community of bereaved parents existed; however, not much was being said about us, our babies, our losses, and our pains. I also experienced the lack of diversity in the counseling profession, and determined to be a source of support, representation, encouragement, and hope for the pregnancy and infant loss community. To be the support that was not easily found in my early days of grief and loss. To sit face to face in the counseling space and offer understanding, encouragement, and hope.

Keisha, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

My declaration to honor my sons and continue their legacy in serving others has created several roles in my personal and professional life. Because of the endearing love I have for my sons and the impact of loss in my life, I am now an author, advocate, and licensed professional counselor and CEO of Transformation Counseling Services, a counseling practice I started in 2015 to provide grief support, grief education, and perinatal mental health services.

I enjoy working with women and moms in my practice, providing specialized care and support as they navigate some of the most challenging paths in life, including loss and motherhood. Besides grief work, I help women increase assertiveness and balance in their lives, as well as maintain healthy boundaries in their relationships. I’m also happy to serve with organizations such as Return to Zero: HOPE and Postpartum Support International that advocate for the needs of the pregnancy and infant loss community.

In 2019, I published my first book, From Three Heartbeats to One: A Gentle Companion Offering Hope in Grieving Pregnancy and Infant Loss. Even as a writer and editor, I never knew I would author this book, but it was one that I needed—desperately—in 2007. I wrote From Three Heartbeats to One to provide hope and empower bereaved parents. This work features helpful exercises to assist readers in identifying and coping with difficult emotions in loss such as guilt, shame, and despair, as well as writing prompts and affirmations they can process and speak to affirm their love for their babies and their ability to move forward in loss. I wrote this book to provide comfort but also inspire the reader to take action in defining healing in grief and loss. To use their voice to define their parenthood; silence despair and shame; and honor their baby’s lifetime.

Do you think you’d choose a different profession or specialty if you were starting now?

Absolutely not! When asked why did I choose to become a therapist, specializing in perinatal mental health, and follow this path as a helping professional, I often say that counseling—this work of serving others—was not my choice but an unexpected, yet accepted, calling and mission. Still, I would choose this meaningful work again and again because it’s work that I know I am purposed to do in supporting others and honoring my sons.

Navigating life after loss is a difficult and uncertain path. And no one should grieve without support and understanding. I enjoy working with individuals to identify their rights in loss; create and maintain a plan for self-care in managing the wide-ranging and unpredictable emotions they experience on this path; and ultimately, learn to be patient with themselves in cultivating life after loss.

Our grief journeys are unique; however, I understand the many universal emotions and experiences of this loss. I believe this helps me relate to and support my pregnancy and infant loss community on a deeper level. It is a privilege to offer hope and hold space for others in this way. This grief work is empowering and needed—changing the sullen narrative about what remains after loss and how to celebrate a life and love so deeply and openly that it disarms pity and shame.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Surviving the loss of my sons is a daily and evolving process of resilience and making meaning in loss. Maintaining my faith and spiritual connection with my sons, as well as the gift of serving and supporting others, are powerful sources of strength for me. Creating community with other bereaved parents also sustains and encourages me on this journey.

Despite the physical absence of my sons, I do not deny my motherhood or identity as their mother. My motherhood is valid. Yes, it is different and I never imagined I would experience this form of loss or mother in this way, but I do. With love, with pride, with joy, and with tenderness, I mother my sons in my heart daily as any mother does for her beloved child.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.keishawells.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kwellslpc
• Other: From Three Heartbeats to One: A Gentle Companion Offering Hope in Grieving Pregnancy and Infant Loss https://www.amazon.com/Three-Heartbeats-One-Companion-Pregnancy-ebook/dp/B0838KF67B