Today we’d like to introduce you to Abigail Hasberry.
Hi Abigail, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I am a former founding head of school at BASIS San Antonio North. After resigning from that role, I began coaching charter school and social justice nonprofit founders in San Antonio and across the country. In addition to that work, I am a licensed marriage and family therapist seeing adult clients virtually in Texas, Maryland, and Michigan, who are either professional women navigating personal and/or professional transitions, as well as adult adoptees and/or first/birth parents. I came to therapy work after meeting adult adoptees who were struggling with grief, loss, and identity confusion. Finding adoption informed therapists in Texas was like finding a unicorn. There was a gap, so I went back to school and trained to fill that gap. My caseload today is full of clients with all sorts of adoption stories, and from all sides of adoption. In addition, I see clients who just want to process their life transitions. I am trained in narrative therapy, Brainspotting, and Internal Family Systems (IFS). Because of the gap in therapy options for members of the adoption constellation, I also train other therapists on adoption informed therapy best practices.
I am also an author and speaker. My memoir, Adopting Privilege: A Memoir of Reinventing My Adoptee Narrative, highlights my experiences as a transracial adoptee, a Black infant adopted by a white family, and as a teenager who relinquished a baby under coercion. However, it is also a story of identity development and healing.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has been a very intentional road, although not always smooth. Marketing to my niche clientele, adults connected to adoption and professional women navigating transitions, has been hard. In addition, practicing my own self-care and boundaries as an entrepreneur always has to stay top of mind, Entrepreneurship is hard work and can feel isolating, so building a community has been so important for me.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am an author, speaker, and educator. I am also a certified executive leadership coach, licensed clinical marriage and family therapist, and I hold a Texas school superintendent certification. With a background in education as a former teacher and founding school principal, I have experience in private, traditional public, and charter schools. I have earned a Bachelor of Science degree in African American studies and sociology, a Master of Arts in teaching, K-12, a Master of Education in counseling and development, a Master of Science degree in industrial/organizational psychology, and a Ph.D. in curriculum & instruction.
In addition to my memoir, Adopting Privilege, I am the author of The R3 Framework a workbook for healing difficult relationships and Living Life on Purpose, for a Purpose, and with a Purpose: 15 Identity Affirming Lessons. I have also authored research on identity development and am currently starting a research study on the experiences of adopted women who, as minors, also relinquished children. I have coined the phrase “birth mother grooming” to describe the phenomenon. Having lived experience as a transracial adoptee and as a teenage birth mom influenced by coercion shapes the lens from which I work and, paired with my education and professional experiences, I am uniquely qualified to do this work.
Beyond my professional achievements, I am married and have raised three Brandeis High School graduates and have five grandchildren. This is truly what I am most proud of.
So, before we go, how can our readers or others connect or collaborate with you? How can they support you?
You can reach me via email, follow me on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/d.e.a.r._abby) or Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/dr.abby.hasberry), purchase my memoir (https://www.museinc.net/product/adopting-privlege), or hear me speak on various podcasts all from my LinkTree (https://linktr.ee/d.e.a.r.abby).
Pricing:
- Therapy $165/session
- Book $22 + shipping
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.greenhouseindy.com/abby-hasberry
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/d.e.a.r._abby
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dr.abby.hasberry
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abigailhasberry
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLF2G31jhf8vCiBQaLNyxY1NT9CVsq2mUV
- Other: https://linktr.ee/d.e.a.r.abby
