Psychotherapist, Consultant, and Educator.

About Elizabeth

Elizabeth O’Brien is a psychotherapist, consultant, and educator whose work sits at the intersection of women’s mental health, caregiving, and the systems that shape how we work and live.

With more than two decades of clinical experienceparticularly in perinatal mental health and trauma. Elizabeth brings a deep understanding of how individual wellbeing is inseparable from the conditions surrounding it. Over time, her work moved upstream: from supporting women after harm had occurred to helping leaders and institutions redesign the systems that create strain, loss, and inequity in the first place.

Her perspective is grounded in a simple truth: when systems fail to account for caregiving realities, women and families pay the price and organizations lose far more than they realize.

A Clinical Lens, Applied Upstream

Elizabeth holds a master’s degree in Dance/Movement Therapy and has worked across schools, hospitals, treatment centers, and community-based organizations. Her clinical work has long centered women’s mental health, perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, life transitions, and complex trauma.

This background informs how she approaches systems work today.

Rather than treating burnout, attrition, or disengagement as individual issues, Elizabeth understands them as signals of systemic depletion the predictable outcome of work structures that rely on invisible labor, disregard caregiving demands, and normalize overextension.

Her work helps leaders recognize these patterns and redesign conditions so people and institutions can sustain their capacity over time.

Why Women and Mothers Are the Center

Elizabeth centers women and mothers not as a niche population, but as a diagnostic lens.

Because when systems work for women and mothers, they work better for everyone.

Caregiving is foundational infrastructure. Ignoring it undermines retention, leadership continuity, culture, and long-term impact. Designing work that honors caregiving realities strengthens organizations and communities alike.

Leadership, Education, and Impact

Elizabeth is the co-creator of Centering YOU®: Postpartum Edition, a therapeutic tool used by healthcare providers and community systems to support new mothers and strengthen early intervention.

She founded the Georgia Chapter of Postpartum Support International (PSI-GA) in 2017, served as its President, and continues to serve on the Georgia Perinatal Task Force. She is a recipient of the Carolyn Wetzel Continuum Award and a member of the Georgia Maternal Mortality Review Committee, contributing to state-level maternal health solutions.

Her work has been featured in The Washington Post, Atlanta Magazine, and numerous podcasts and publications, and she is a sought-after speaker on maternal mental health, caregiving, and sustainable work design.

Grounded Presence, Clear Insight

Elizabeth’s early career included work in Alaska serving in shelters, schools, substance use programs, and remote Native villages experiences that continue to shape her body-centered, relational, and justice-informed approach.

Whether working with organizations, leadership teams, or within a clinical setting, she brings the same grounded presence and clarity: a belief that when we design systems that honor real lives, we expand what is possible or people, institutions, and the future we’re trying to build.

Things that Light Her Up:
Sound baths • Energy medicine • Dancing to live music • Teaching • Hot springs • Mossy cliffs in Southeast Alaska

Violet Reynolds O’Brien is a designer and creative director whose work bridges design, community, and storytelling. She leads The Shift Shop’s creative direction—crafting visual identities, digital experiences, and brand systems that reflect authenticity, purpose, and care.

A recent graduate of Rhodes College with a B.A. in Anthropology/Sociology and double minors in Gender & Sexuality Studies and Religious Studies (May 2025), Violet brings an interdisciplinary lens to her creative practice. Her studies in culture, identity, and human connection inform every design decision—grounding her visual work in empathy and meaning.

Violet’s creative direction spans brand identity, website design, product development, and social media strategy. She has collaborated with organizations such as Cherished Life Wellness, InnerLight Holistic, and Gwinnett Breastfeeding to design cohesive digital presences that align visual storytelling with mission-driven work.

As the designer and creative director behind the Postpartum Therapeutic Card Deck Centering You / Centrada en Ti , Violet led the project from concept to completion. Every element, from the marbled textures and typography to the bilingual layout, was designed to nurture mindfulness, connection, and accessibility.

Beyond The Shift Shop, Violet’s passion for sustainability and community engagement has guided her work with Roots, the Rhodes College campus garden club, and as a City of Memphis HUD Fellow with the V&E Greenline, where she supported fundraising and event coordination for a volunteer-run urban trail. She has also worked in public education at the Memphis Zoo and Zoo Atlanta, and most recently deepened her understanding of sustainable food systems while WWOOFing at Singing Nettle Farm in Alaska.

Violet’s creative work and community practice share the same goal: to design with purpose and build connections that last. She’s currently based in Boston, where she continues to develop creative projects that center collaboration, sustainability, and visual storytelling.

If you’re interested in collaborating with Violet or exploring creative direction, reach out to learn more about upcoming projects and partnership opportunities.