My Deep Commitment to Helping Women
“Owning our story and loving ourselves through that process is the bravest thing that we will ever do.” —Brene Brown, “The Gifts of Imperfection”
During more than 18 years of counseling experience, I have listened to the stories of women struggling to heal the wounds of their lives, own their stories and find the self-esteem they needed to reshape their lives. I have admired their resilience and courage and been honored to support them in their journey
I offer individual counseling sessions to women struggling with major life transitions. In addition, I partner with other professionals in facilitating workshops on a variety of wellness, self-care and life issues that are of special interest and concern to women of all ages.
My Story and Experience
My commitment to helping women grew from my own experiences of struggle to find my unique voice. Just as I have learned to trust and follow that inner voice, I want to bring this discovery to the women that I counsel.
I began my career as a musician, professional vocalist and music teacher. I discovered the full expression of all these skills and more, in the major calling of my life—becoming a cantor.
I spent thirty-two years in the fulfilling and varied life of being a cantor, the clergy person of the synagogue who is in charge of chanting the entire musical liturgy, teaches and is an integral part of congregational life cycle and pastoral care.
To meet the needs of my congregants I earned a Masters Degree in Pastoral Counseling at the University of St. Joseph. During that period I was working full time, raising a family and caring for aging, ailing parents. There were painful losses along the way. The experience gave me a strong connection to and identification with women and our struggles with finding work-life balance.
I became a Connecticut Licensed Professional Counselor after graduation and joined the practice of Bethany Pastoral Counseling Services in addition to my cantorial work. I also facilitated a support group for those dealing with the challenges of addiction recovery at Jewish Family Services of Greater Hartford.
When I retired from my cantorial work in the synagogue, I began to facilitate groups dealing with the emotions of job loss and employment transition at Jewish Family Services. I continue to facilitate these groups. I also created a Retired Cantors Network for the American Conference of Cantors, offering support through national conference calls for colleagues going through the life transition of retirement. In this stage of my life, Women Reshaping Lives is my new beginning.
Learn more about counseling with Susan Levine
All of my life experience helps me listen with an empathy and understanding that comes from a firm grounding of knowledge, skill and personal connection. I understand how hard it can be to take that first step.
You may be afraid and worry about what lies ahead. You may wonder if change is really possible for you.
Yes, it is!
