Hey, Hi, How are Ya?!
I am so happy that you have arrived to this part of my website! My name is Kaitlyn Thompson, Kate for short, and I am the founder/creator of Waves of Wellness. I am currently a graduate student at Arizona State University and am studying to obtain my Master's degree in Social Work. I was raised in a small town in upstate, New York and moved to Southport, North Carolina in 2016 where I currently reside with the love of my life and our fur-baby, Fin!
Mental health became a strong passion of mine as I suffered from anxiety, depression, and PTSD in my early 20's. Thankfully my parents were able to recognize signs of my suffering and brought me back home to New York, from my undergraduate college in Salem, Massachusetts. Upon my arrival, I admitted myself into the psychiatric department at our local hospital as I was having severe suicidal ideations and was finally able to recognize that I needed help.
After I admitted myself into the hospital, I started EMDR (Eye-Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) therapy to help process my trauma and start my healing journey. I believe, to this very day, that my family & EMDR therapy saved my LIFE. THERAPY IS PRETTY AMAZING!
At the young age of 27, my life story already contains many chapters, that I hope to continue sharing with the world as my journey through this crazy thing called life continues and I become more comfortable with being vulnerable. It is safe to say that I have made it my life's mission to continuously further my education, in-order to advance my knowledge and skills to better aid people who are suffering, as I can empathize with the dangers of having poor mental health.
The mission behind my brand is to help end the stigma that is revolved around mental health and normalizing the verbalization of our thoughts and feelings. I believe that ending the stigma has the potential to help increase one's desire to seek the mental health services they may need, which can be life-saving.
This new endeavor of mine has brought me an abundance of feelings which range from anxious, nervous, thrilled... the list goes on ( I feel all the feels)! I am a firm believer in the importance of having our feelings validated and how our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are all intertwined.
There is one quote that I absolutely live by, that has helped me get through some of my darkest of days, and that is "the best is yet to come". There is much meaning behind these six simple words as my grandfather, Federico Leopaldo Polizzi, never failed to say them to me whenever we were together. I may not have believed these words when I was younger but my experiences over the years have helped me believe these words of wisdom to be nothing but true.
I hope that with your support in wearing my brand we can provide this daily reminder to everyone we encounter and that asking for help is an act of courage.
YOU MATTER,
Kate
