How Stone & Ivy Began: A Story of Purpose, Healing & Grace
Stone & Ivy was born from a lifelong calling—one shaped by more than 15 years of experience in the mental health and substance use field, and a deep, personal understanding of the strength, vulnerability, and resilience that live within us all. My work in behavioral health was never just a profession; it became my purpose. Over time, I witnessed not only the profound importance of mental wellness, but also the heavy stigmas that still blanket the world of mental health and addiction. Those stigmas, and the quiet suffering they create, inspired me to build a space rooted in compassion, honesty, and hope.
What began as a passion for writing and helping others has grown into a place for connection—where stories, insights, and lived experiences can be shared openly and without shame. Stone & Ivy is not just for those who struggle with mental health or addiction, but for anyone touched by these realities: family members, partners, friends, caregivers, and individuals seeking a deeper understanding of their own emotional landscape. It’s also for those who simply wish to learn how to move through life with more mindfulness, more humility, and more grace.
This website and magazine were created with the intention of offering perspective and peace—to illuminate topics we often shy away from, to foster empathy and compassion, and to remind all of us that healing is not linear, and growth is not solitary. Here, we explore heartfelt themes such as grief, trauma, gratitude, recovery, forgiveness, and the quiet beauty found in everyday moments.
My hope is that Stone & Ivy becomes a shared space of gentle abundance: a place where people feel seen, supported, and understood. May these stories and reflections bring comfort, spark conversation, and serve as reminders that we are never alone in our struggles—or our healing.
Welcome to Stone & Ivy.
Where wellness is reimagined with intention and grace, one story at a time.
The roots of Stone & Ivy
childhood trauma
childhood trauma
childhood trauma
Opening up about childhood trauma is quite the courageous and transformative experience. By bringing these hidden stories to light, I hope to break the silence and nurture understanding, especially for others who may feel alone in their journey. It can take years to understand how deeply those early wounds shaped us - and even longer to begin healing them.
Through candid reflections and heartfelt narratives, these stories serve as a safe space for healing and connection. I write as someone who has lived it, questioned it, and continues to navigate its impact every day.
addiction
childhood trauma
childhood trauma
Addiction doesn't just affect the person struggling with it - it ripples out, quietly shaping the lives of everyone around them. As the child of alcoholics, I learned early on how to navigate chaos, hide pain, and carry responsibilities that were never meant for me. For years, I didn't have the words to describe what I was living through. Now I do - and this is where I've chosen to speak them.
This space is dedicated to sharing the truths of growing up with addiction in the family - the grief, the confusion, the resilience, and the ongoing work of healing.
These stories aren't just about addiction. They're about survival, boundaries, love, anger, and the complicated path toward breaking generational cycles.
death & dying
childhood trauma
death & dying
Death is one experience we all share, yet it remains one of the most difficult to talk about. In many cultures, it's a subject avoided, whispered about, or pushed aside until it becomes impossible to ignore. But dying - like living - deserves our attention, our reflection, and our honesty.
These personal blogs are a space where stories of loss, both sudden and expected, are shared with complete honesty and vulnerability without fear or taboo.
grief
healing & Forgiveness
death & dying
Grief is one of the most human experiences we face - deeply personal, often invisible, and profoundly life-altering. Whether it's the loss of a loved one, the end of a relationship, or a quiet goodbye to a version of life we once knew, grief has a way of reshaping everything. It doesn't follow a timeline, and it rarely shows up the way we expect.
Here, I'll share my journey through grief - not as an expert, but as someone walking through it day by day. Grief may be universal, but how we carry it is uniquely our own.
healing & Forgiveness
healing & Forgiveness
healing & Forgiveness
Healing and forgiveness are two of the hardest - and most powerful - things we can choose to pursue. Neither happens quickly. Both ask us to face pain, sit with discomfort, and release what we once held tightly. But somewhere within that process, there is freedom. There is softness. There is the possibility of peace.
These blogs are a space for exploring what it really means to heal - not in a straight line, but in a deeply human, often messy way. It's about letting go of what no longer serves us, making peace with the past, and learning to forgive - others yes, but also ourselves.
let there be light
healing & Forgiveness
healing & Forgiveness
There comes a point in healing when the pain no longer defines you - when the weight of the past begins to lift, and a quiet question arises: What now?
These stories are about that moment - the tender, uncertain, beautiful process of letting light back in. After surviving hurt, loss, heartbreak, or trauma, it can feel unfamiliar - even unsafe - to feel joy, softness, or hope again. But little by little, we learn. We open. We begin to trust life, and ourselves, in new ways.
Here, I'll share thoughts, stories, and reflections from the other side of deep pain - not from a place of perfection, but from the perspective of someone learning to live fully again.