Why I Do What I Do

When my husband abruptly left in 2006, I found my life’s mission. I didn’t know it at the time, of course – I was suffering too much. But as time went on, my mission became clear.

My mission is you.

Before that fateful day, I thought I knew my purpose. I’d been a therapist for more than twenty-five years. I helped people resolve their problems. I loved my work with couples and families. I loved working with kids and teens. I’d written a book, My Sister, My Self, about sister relationships, that I was very proud of. I felt I was contributing.

Like you, however, when my husband left suddenly, my life was bisected into before and after. After he left, I was knocked to my knees. The emotional pain was almost unbearable. Life became a daily struggle to survive.

But, in running out the door, he unwittingly left behind a gift. A small seed. The opening of a possibility. If I could locate that seed and nurture it, it would flower into new possibilities for my life.

So I studied wife abandonment and was surprised to learn that there were other women whose husbands left in exactly the same shocking way. That led to my writing the book, Runaway Husbands, and the creation of this website. And all that led me to you.

You are not alone.

Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of meeting thousands of women from all over the world. Women who were struggling, like I had been, and those who had located their own seed and were nurturing something new in their lives, however large or small it was. 

Meeting these women thrilled and inspired me and opened up my vision to my life’s true mission: to help women work through the trauma and discover a beautiful side to themselves they may not have known they had. I’m blessed to have you and all the women I have been able to help a bit on their journey in my life.

My Story

I've been a psychotherapist and family therapist for over thirty years. Originally from New York City, I currently live in Montreal where I’m the founder and director of the Sedona Counselling Centre of Montreal. 

I’ve written three books (My Sister, My Self, Runaway Husbands and The Divorce Talk: How to Tell the Kids) and edited a fourth, Planet Heartbreak, which is a compilation of 62 stories written by the Runaway Husbands women.

I’m a blogger for Psychology Today and my posts have been read by over 4 million people. I have often been a guest on radio and television and a speaker at conferences worldwide.

I’m devoted to helping the women of my community and love leading retreats, either online, in Montreal or in Sedona, Arizona.

My interests? Yoga, nature, reading, my precious friends and family, anything that makes me laugh, and my small black dog, Chloe.

Books by Vikki

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