The bridge between depression and “living out loud” is right there within you; it’s your invincible voice!   At The Self Development Place, you can put together your own unique mix of five different services that will allow you to transform your life by bringing out everything that you have within you.

Inside of every woman is a free spirit untouched by the demands of the world, blissfully unaware of the judgments of peers, unscathed by the fears of her parents.  She’s an independent thinker and a non-conformist. She’s uninhibited and she knows her own mind.  Her voice rings in the air clear as a bell.  She is the core of the strong, joyous woman you are meant to be.

For most women, pieces of that inner voice — aspects of your self – have been lost along the way, sometimes as a result of trauma, but often simply as a function of the demands of everyday life.

The impact of that loss is enormous.  It is at the heart of depression, of inaction, of being “stuck”, of feeling empty, of procrastinating or foreclosing on your dreams.

It is also both preventable and fixable. As a parent, you can coax your daughters’ voices into full expression.  As a woman, you can weave forgotten elements of your self into the life you lead today.

The essence of that beautiful, forthright inner girl, when you reconnect with her, will be a precious and powerful part of your adult voice.

The vision of The Self Development Place is simple: no lost voices.

It is about reaching women – whether adults or teens — whose selves are buried and whose voices have been lost; it is about guiding parents so that this happens to fewer and fewer girls – and when it does happen, it is not so extreme.  It is about sparing as many girls and women as possible the pain of struggling to know Who am I? Do I have a right to be that? Am I good enough? It is about encouraging you if you must travel this difficult path.

The Self Development Place exists to nurture you.

Feeling powerless and silenced puts girls and women at risk for depression, alienation and withdrawal. The Self Development Place is a space to reclaim your voice and your energy.  It’s also a partner in raising daughters who are assertive, joyful and optimistic about living.

You don’t have to lead a movement or join a party.  To the contrary, helping you find your own voice so that you can come alive in your own life is the mission of The Self Development Place. What you do with your voice – that’s excitingly, enticingly and totally – up to you.

Workshops, coaching, therapy at The Self Development Place provide abundant opportunities for you and your daughters to respond spontaneously to something new and unexpected.  It’s the space you need for uninhibited self-expression, a space to come alive.

Why self-expression?

Self-expression both prevents and relieves depression.  The Self Development Place helps girls and women prevent – and conquer — depression, that sense of emptiness (“is this all there is?”), feeling “stuck”  or immobilized by procrastination — by helping you bring your voice into your work, your relationships and your play.

A gift from a teacher

For each of us, our most important work has its source in the personal challenges we have faced, and that is true of the No Lost Voices initiative.  I created The Self Development Place because of my own experiences as a girl, because of the heroes who changed the course of my own life, and because joy is possible.  I do this work because I know what it is to have that spark of personhood withdraw deeply inside, seemingly irretrievable, and to have it brought to life again. I do it for the sparks.

For many reasons, I was a very quiet, ultra-obedient child.  In the sixth grade, a kind art teacher named Mr. Walz set out on a mission to help me to feel safe enough in his class to break a few rules and to misbehave just a little bit.  His genuine aspiration was to be able to give me a “B” in “conduct”.

On our last day of elementary school, he presented each of us in his homeroom with a striking linoleum block print that said:

Today’s sparks are tomorrow’s bright lights.

Even though it was too soon for me to understand those words, too soon for me to risk giving up my “A” in conduct, I never forgot them.  They remained in a corner of my mind as I learned to nurture my own spark of self, so painfully buried at that time, and to help others do the same.

An unexpressed self is a buried spark that either smolders with rage or threatens to go out in despair.

Together we’ll tap into some of the forgotten corners of your self so that the treasures there are transformed from a heavy weight of frustration – a source of depression – to a catalyst for action and a source of joy.

Together we’ll uncover your unique voice – your thoughts, feelings, beliefs, wishes – and gently understand your fears about using it.

Today’s inklings – yours – are tomorrow’s passions, the ones you’ve been seeking.  And today’s irrepressible little girls and adolescents, if their voices are heard and celebrated, are tomorrow’s vibrant accomplished women.

Leadership develops naturally as a side effect of self development

Leadership emerges from within.  It’s far more than a set of external skills; it’s a solid connection to your own beliefs, thoughts and feelings and a sense of certainty about expressing and acting on them.  When you know your own mind and feel confident of your right to express yourself, it becomes automatic to take a leadership role – with your family, your friends, at work and in the community.

Consistent with the catalyst for One Woman’s Voice, the premise underlying all the programs of The Self Development Place is simple: when women have access to their own voices, the world changes.  The Self Development Place exists to help you know your self and as a result be transformed into a catalyst for solid, grounded action – for your self, with your family, with your peers, and, if you choose, in the greater world around you.

Your spark changes everything.

What difference can one woman make?

Awhile back, my older daughter and I were driving home from Indianapolis late at night after a pleasant little day trip.  Élise is very politically aware – and outspoken about her beliefs.  Inevitably our conversation drifted to the state of the world – and of our own country — which, it must be admitted, is in all too many aspects atrocious.  What can one person do in the face of such complex, devastating issues, I wondered.

My answer to that, shaped in the car that night, is that we can each throw ourselves into what we do best.  For Élise, that is writing, internationally.  For me, it is helping women reconnect with the essence of themselves – which they have so often lost along the way in the interest of meeting the needs and expectations of everybody else. Change at any level begins with people finding their own voices.

The Self Development Place is a space – both physical and virtual – where women can be outspoken.  Because once a woman knows her own heart and feels confident of her right to express herself, it becomes automatic to take a leadership role – with family, friends, at work and in the community.  In the process, she comes to life; she empowers not only herself but also her children and even her friends to stand up for their beliefs – and the world stands to become a better place.

It starts with one person being real – you

Your commitment to beating depression, to living a full and vibrant life, and to raising daughters who can think critically and stand up for what they believe in will change the world.  Your own, theirs – and the lives of everyone you touch.

Starting now.

(From the upcoming book Invincible Voice — the inner antidote to depression)