Monica Kennedy

I have been a Gather.com member for 5 1/2 yrs. I came here for a fiction writing contest and have enjoyed sharing many forms of writings, pictures, and videos. I was surprised to have great success with sharing my crochet patterns. I love to crochet but now as a graduate student I do not have as much time to devote to this craft.

I earned my bachelors degree from East Tennessee State University in 2008 with concentrations in Human Development & Learning, Family & Consumer Sciences, and English. I am currently halfway through the 60 hour Professional Counseling Masters at Liberty University Online. I hope to graduate in 2012.

My husband is also a full time student working on his bachelor's degree in Psychology. He transfers to East Tennessee State University, in August. We both plan to become LPC's with the mental health designation. Our dream is to have our own private practice one day called The Center for Hope. This practice will include other LPC's, MFT's, LCSW's, NP's, MD's and PHD's who are all Christian (if you're willing to relocate, then you can join us!). Our mantra will be "Providing hope for yesterday, today, tomorrow, and eternity." I plan on specializing in PTSD/Trauma, gaining credentials in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). I also plan to counsel survivors of human trafficking as a personal ministry - I am very passionate on this issue and could go on for days about it).

I also love to write. I have a novel in the works. I believe God put it on hold because of what I am learning in my master's program. I am confident in time I will have a great final product and pray to one day get it published. It is a contemporary Christian fiction novel with a drama/romance/suspense theme. I plan to write non-fiction self help books as well. My next publishing venture, however, is with crochet patterns. I currently offer several free crochet patterns but am looking into selling them as well.

In February I became a member of the American Association of Christian Counselors at Liberty University Leadership Team. As an online student representative for the leadership team, it is my goal to bring the on-campus experience to online students. So far this has been through creating several groups on Facebook and Gather.com. This has been a great honor, challenge, blessing, and a lot of fun too.

God bless you every day!

Monica Kennedy