We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Stephanie Dow a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Stephanie, thanks for joining us today. We’re complete cheeseballs and so we love asking folks to share the most heartwarming moment from their career – do you have a touching moment you can share with us?
My practice, the Garden Counseling, has been established for over two years. One of the most rewarding parts of Counseling has been group therapy.
I started a narcissistic abuse recovery group last year in Spring 2025 & it has been so exciting to see women healing from what they felt so isolated by.
The group has been labeled. Trust Your Gut, because in abusive relationships, you are told to disregard your reality and agree with someone’s dysfunction. It leaves you feeling confused and that you are not allowed to share how you feel. I keep hearing feedback from clients how they’re allowed to feel angry and share how they feel in their relationships after group.
A memorable time was one of the group members offering to do a Zumba class for survivors. For our last group meeting, there was a curated playlist of songs related to healing and group members dance together, celebrating freedom and community. I am so thankful that the garden has been a safe space for people to heal on their own terms. God wants us to heal, on earth as it is in Heaven.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
I started my counseling degree, without knowing much about trauma or boundaries to make healing possible. Through my education, I learned an integrative counseling approach that uses faith and evidence based practice, mixed with experiential knowledge and trauma focused training in anti trafficking work settings. I really work with people for where they are and try to think outside of the box for getting clients need met. Holistic care so important and it looks like a lot of different things. But I am constantly challenging clients to find community, find ways to improve their health physically, get better sleep, do hobbies that they truly love, and seek God without the opinions of others.
I think I most proud of not only people telling me the success of Counseling through my practice, but the moments that they truly feel heard that hasn’t been put into words.
If there’s one thing I want people to understand is that God is so compassionate, and what empathy I give to people is only scratching the surface of what God can give them.
Have any books or other resources had a big impact on you?
Some resources that have really shaped my view and understanding of therapy:
– mending the soul by Steven Tracy
– boundaries the book and podcast by Dr. Henry Cloud
– the body keeps the score by Bessel van der Kolk
– trauma mama husband drama by Anne Blithe
Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?
I think I had to unlearn that quitting, didn’t mean that I didn’t do enough.
I think I was taught in many ways to finish something regardless of how I felt. Whether that was finishing food on my plate or completing a class at school. The reality is that sometimes things don’t serve you and it’s OK to quit.
I had a job that really took a toll on my mental health and I remember meeting with my own therapist. And my therapist explained to me besides me feeling like I was leaving a calling, that financial strain could not replace my mental health needs.
There was a moment where my integrity was being called into question. When it was clear that leadership did not have my back or seek the truth, I made a plan to walk away, and it was the best thing I’ve ever done for myself.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Thegardencounseling.info
- Instagram: Thegardencounseling
- Linkedin: Stephanie Nicole Dow
Image Credits
Madisen Elizabeth Photography
https://www.instagram.com/madi.elizabeth.photography?igsh=MXg0ODZkZTB1eml3Mg==