At my wedding, my father-in-law’s speech focused on my “grit.” My resilience in response to my parents’ early deaths defined me in his eyes, and the definition felt familiar. Throughout my life, I have been called a “fireworks show,” “truth teller,” “powerhouse,” and always “resilient.” Meditation, journaling, and therapy have all contributed immensely to my resilience, and these practices have inspired me to change careers and become a therapist. The Enders Scholarship would directly contribute to my studies as a Clinical Psychology student at Antioch University. I’ve personally experienced the transformative power of meditation, journaling, and other mindfulness tools as someone who has weathered the trauma of losing both of my parents to alcohol and hope to inspire that same healing in others. I realized my life wasn’t “normal” in the 6th grade while filling out a “childhood adverse event” survey. The survey asked how often I was in the car with someone who had been drinking. I could tell as a 12-year-old that “5-7 days a week” was not the “right” answer. My father died due to cirrhosis of the liver, related to his alcohol abuse, at the age of 47 when I was a high school junior. At the time, it felt like complicated relief. I don’t remember months of my undergraduate education because of dissociative episodes related to his traumatic death. My mom died by suicide, influenced by alcohol-induced bipolar disorder, at the age of 52 a few years later. From 2011 - 2017, I was her rock even though I was thousands of miles away. I grew accustomed to late-night calls during binge-drinking episodes and heartbreaking conversations about freedom that felt so far away. I loved my mom deeply and was shattered when I got the call about her passing. Both of my parents died before I turned 24. It felt like my body was running on grief, anger, and a need to prove to the universe that I was capable of thriving on my own. Despite being in weekly therapy through all of these losses, I didn’t have the tools necessary to heal until I met my current therapist and started integrating mindfulness into my daily life. I began truly healing and addressing my trauma a few years ago with the help of EMDR therapy, meditation, yoga, and journaling. My current therapist has been incredibly influential on my life. She helped me realize I had severed myself from the present, my body, and my emotions to protect myself. After spending my developmental years caring for everyone around me, I turned inward to focus on myself. During the pandemic, I started a daily yoga, meditation, and journaling practice. It felt scary to connect with the stored trauma in my body. I had avoided it since my father’s death - like a shark, always moving forward. My meditation practice evolved from 1 struggling minute to 5, and then 20. Even today, I am still working on letting my full emotional experience in. This is a lifetime effort and I know every day that I return to my mat, I am healing a bit more of myself. It would be an incredible honor to receive the Enders Scholarship to support my studies at Antioch University. I found fulfillment and clarity through my journey with mindfulness, writing, and EMDR therapy. These experiences deepen my empathy as an aspiring therapist and would allow me to relate to my patients authentically and powerfully. My complex PTSD colors my perspective and will assist me in helping clients navigate the dark, unexpected, and stigmatized corners of their own lives.

My name is Ashley McManus, a first-year graduate student at Antioch University in Los Angeles pursuing a master’s degree in clinical psychology. As a queer woman who personally wrestles with C-PTSD, my goal is to become a marriage and family therapist, specializing in the intersection of sexual and mental health. I’ve experienced the transformative power of honest and informed therapeutic spaces, and I hope to promote that healing in others. Throughout my life, studies, and career, I have earned a reputation as a compassionate, visionary leader. My undergraduate career was defined by academic achievement and award-winning mental health advocacy efforts. Throughout my studies, I maintained a 3.93 GPA while balancing community engagement as the President and Founder of Emerson’s only mental health advocacy organization. I’m proud to have graduated Summa Cum Laude and been inducted into Emerson College’s Purple Key Leadership Society, an award recognizing leadership, civic engagement, and academic achievement among a select group of graduating seniors. Our mental health student organization advocated for increased counseling staff, raised awareness for the school’s first 24-hour counseling hotline, and helped establish a new protocol for dealing with life-threatening mental illness in the Undergraduate Student Handbook. We also supported the national Active Minds organization by piloting the first “Stigma Fighter Workshop,” dedicated to educating and empowering students to be more effective advocates in their personal lives. In 2015, I was recognized at the Active Minds national conference with the Student Leader of the Year Award for my innovative and impactful leadership. My advocacy work has been the perfect primer for my graduate studies at Antioch, which centers on and encourages social action through our studies. With my MA, I will be armed to continue the fight for progressive change within the fields of sexual and mental health, while also promoting the well-being of my clients. In the eight years since graduation, I continued to hone my passion for behavioral, cultural, and human insights by producing primary research and strategy for advertisers. In my last role, my manager wrote a performance review that sums up my work style and motivations during this time: “Ashley is a Truth Seeker. She uses data, anecdotes, and smart questions to get to the underlying truth, behavior, or motivation that drives an audience. Her questions and points of view act as innovation starters, prompting those around her to re-evaluate what they know and inspire them to reconsider their position, dig further to learn more, or experiment to see if it’s true.” Even within marketing, I have continually looked inward while supporting those around me to see the world from a different perspective. I’m energized by the idea of finally applying this "Truth Seeking" style to a career in psychology. It would be an incredible honor to receive your support so that I can make this career change and offer silenced individuals a place for therapeutic support. My therapist of three years told me that the best therapists are those who pursue understanding, empowerment, and wellness for others in their day-to-day lives. If this is true, then I've been preparing for this program all my life.

My name is Ashley McManus, a 1st year graduate student at Antioch University in Los Angeles pursuing a master’s degree in Clinical Psychology. Pursuing this degree feels like nothing short of a personal calling, a lifetime in the making. I’ve personally experienced the transformative power of honest and informed therapeutic spaces, and I hope to promote that same healing in others. My relationships with therapy and mental health are central to how I overcame the deaths of both of my parents and eventually found my calling in helping others through traumatizing and stigmatized experiences. I was exposed to a complicated mix of mental illness and trauma in childhood. Throughout my development, I was told by well-meaning adults that I was “emotionally mature” for my age – a statement that now gives me pause. Emotional maturity is seldom born from inexperience. As any “Family Medical History” form I have filled out will tell you, both of my parents died before the age of 24 – one from cirrhosis of the liver induced by alcoholism and one from suicide. Without these events and the experiences leading up to them, you would not be reading my words today. I found fulfillment and clarity through my therapeutic journey with CBT, mindfulness, EMDR, and psychodynamic therapy. These experiences deepen my empathy as an aspiring therapist and will allow me to relate to my patients authentically and powerfully. My C-PTSD colors my perspective and will assist me in helping clients navigate the dark, unexpected, and stigmatized corners of their own lives. In response to the mental health challenges I witnessed growing up and my affected mental health, I became extremely passionate about difficult-to-discuss topics and accessibility. I founded Active Minds at Emerson College as an undergraduate freshman, a branch of the nonprofit organization supporting mental health awareness and education for young adults through over 600 college campus chapters. Our organization advocated for increased counseling staff, raised awareness for the school’s first 24-hour counseling hotline, and helped establish a new protocol for dealing with life-threatening mental illness in the Undergraduate Student Handbook. We also supported the national Active Minds organization by piloting the first “Stigma Fighter Workshop,” dedicated to educating and empowering students to be more effective advocates on their campus and within their personal lives. In 2015, I was recognized at the Active Minds national conference with the Student Leader of the Year Award for my innovative and impactful leadership. Active Minds at Emerson College won “Organization of the Year” on campus, and I was personally awarded the Jennifer Stowers Quintal Visionary Award for Distinction in Community Service and Social Advocacy. In order to make a difference as a therapist, I am uniquely interested in often overlooked aspects of mental health obstacles related to sexual experiences. While in graduate school, I hope to pursue research related to how trauma (sexual or otherwise) or grief impacts sexual health and satisfaction. I particularly would love to work with individuals who struggle with vulvodynia - a condition that impacts more women than breast cancer, but is sworn to secrecy in society. Vulvodynia is an ongoing pain around the opening of the vagina, which can make sex or even sitting down impossible. This is just one example of how I would love to specialize my practice as a therapist, focused on these populations of suffering people who might be offered physical treatment, but may not have an outlet for the variety of mental health and relationship concerns that they deal with on a daily basis. My advocacy work has been the perfect primer for my graduate studies at Antioch, which centers on and encourages social action through our studies. With my MA, I will be armed to continue the fight for progressive change within the fields of sexual and mental health, while also promoting the well-being of my clients. My therapist of three years told me that the best therapists are those who pursue understanding, empowerment, and wellness for others in their day-to-day lives. If this is true, then I've been preparing for this journey all my life.

My name is Ashley McManus, a first-year graduate student at Antioch University in Los Angeles pursuing a master’s degree in clinical psychology. As a queer woman who personally wrestles with C-PTSD, my goal is to become a marriage and family therapist, specializing in the intersection of sexual and mental health. I’ve experienced the transformative power of honest and informed therapeutic spaces, and I hope to promote that healing in others. Pursuing a master’s in clinical psychology feels like nothing short of a personal calling, a lifetime in the making. My undergraduate career was defined by academic achievement, award-winning mental health advocacy efforts, and empowering women by deconstructing sex-negative cultural narratives through my thesis work. As a graduate student, I would bring my eye for intersectionality and cultural stigma to my clinical psychology courses. Casting light on difficult-to-discuss topics has always been one of my core values. Throughout my studies, I maintained a 3.93 GPA while also balancing community engagement as the President and Founder of Emerson’s only mental health advocacy organization. I’m proud to have graduated Summa Cum Laude and been inducted into Emerson College’s Purple Key Leadership Society, an award recognizing leadership, civic engagement, and academic achievement among a select group of graduating seniors. My advocacy work has been the perfect primer for my graduate studies at Antioch, which centers on and encourages social action through our studies. With my MA, I will be armed to continue the fight for progressive change within the fields of sexual and mental health, while also promoting the well-being of my clients. In order to make a difference as a therapist, I am uniquely interested in often overlooked aspects of mental health obstacles related to sexual experiences. I’m excited to experience one of the nation’s first graduate psychology specializations devoted to affirmative psychology for LGBTQ+ individuals, and hopefully the sex therapy certification program out of the Seattle campus when I have completed my graduate studies. While in graduate school, I hope to pursue research related to how trauma (sexual or otherwise) or grief impacts sexual health and satisfaction. I particularly would love to work with individuals who struggle with vulvodynia - a condition that impacts more women than breast cancer, but is sworn to secrecy in society. Vulvodynia is an ongoing pain around the opening of the vagina, which can make sex or even sitting down impossible. This is just one example of how I would love to specialize my practice as a therapist, focused on these populations of suffering people who might be offered physical treatment, but may not have an outlet for the variety of mental health and relationship concerns that they deal with on a daily basis. My graduate study is a reclamation of myself. It is an act of resistance against fear and silence. It means finally putting well-earned foundations and hard-wired passions to work. For 8 years, I turned away from my passion to make a difference as a therapist and hid behind a life of marketing strategy. It would be an incredible honor to receive your support so that I am able to make this career change and offer the silenced a place for therapeutic support. My therapist of three years told me that the best therapists are those who pursue understanding, empowerment, and wellness for others in their day-to-day lives. If this is true, then I've been preparing for this program all my life.

My name is Ashley McManus, a first-year graduate student at Antioch University in Los Angeles pursuing a master’s degree in clinical psychology. As a queer woman who personally wrestles with C-PTSD, my goal is to become a marriage and family therapist, specializing in the intersection of sexual and mental health. I’ve experienced the transformative power of honest and informed therapeutic spaces, and I hope to promote that healing in others. Pursuing a master’s in clinical psychology feels like nothing short of a personal calling, a lifetime in the making. My undergraduate career was defined by academic achievement, award-winning mental health advocacy efforts, and empowering women by deconstructing sex-negative cultural narratives through my thesis work. Throughout my studies, I maintained a 3.93 GPA while also balancing community engagement as the President and Founder of Emerson’s only mental health advocacy organization. I’m proud to have been inducted into Emerson College’s Purple Key Leadership Society, an award recognizing leadership, civic engagement, and academic achievement among a select group of graduating seniors. My experience as an effective mental health advocate on Emerson College’s campus emphasizes my long-time commitment to social justice and mental health accessibility. I founded Active Minds at Emerson College, a branch of the nonprofit organization supporting mental health awareness and education for young adults through over 600 college campus chapters. Our organization advocated for increased counseling staff, raised awareness for the school’s first 24-hour counseling hotline, and helped establish a new protocol for dealing with life-threatening mental illness in the Undergraduate Student Handbook. In 2015, I was recognized at the Active Minds national conference with the Student Leader of the Year Award for my innovative and impactful leadership. With my MA, I will be armed to continue the fight for progressive change within the fields of sexual and mental health, while also promoting the well-being of my clients. In order to make a difference as a therapist, I am uniquely interested in overlooked mental health obstacles related to sexual experiences. I’m excited to experience one of the nation’s first graduate psychology specializations devoted to affirmative psychology for LGBTQ+ individuals, and hopefully the sex therapy certification program out of the Seattle campus when I have completed my graduate studies. While in graduate school, I hope to pursue research related to how trauma impacts sexual health and satisfaction. I particularly would love to work with individuals who struggle with vulvodynia - a condition that impacts more women than breast cancer, but is sworn to secrecy in society. Vulvodynia is an ongoing pain around the opening of the vagina, which can make sex or even sitting down impossible. This is just one example of how I would love to specialize my practice as a therapist, focused on these populations of suffering people who might be offered physical treatment, but may not have an outlet for the variety of mental health and relationship concerns that they deal with on a daily basis. It would be an incredible honor to receive your support so that I am able to make this career change and offer the silenced a place for therapeutic support. My therapist of three years told me that the best therapists are those who pursue understanding, empowerment, and wellness for others in their day-to-day lives. If this is true, then I've been preparing for this program all my life.

My name is Ashley McManus, a first-year graduate student at Antioch University in Los Angeles pursuing a master’s degree in clinical psychology. As a queer woman who personally wrestles with C-PTSD, my goal is to become a marriage and family therapist, specializing in the intersection of sexual and mental health. I’ve experienced the transformative power of honest and informed therapeutic spaces, and I hope to promote that healing in others. My undergraduate career was defined by academic achievement, award-winning mental health advocacy efforts, and empowering women by deconstructing sex-negative cultural narratives through my thesis work. Casting light on difficult-to-discuss topics has always been one of my core values. Throughout my studies, I maintained a 3.93 GPA while also balancing community engagement as the President and Founder of Emerson’s only mental health advocacy organization. I’m proud to have been inducted into Emerson College’s Purple Key Leadership Society, an award recognizing leadership, civic engagement, and academic achievement among a select group of graduating seniors. My experience as an effective mental health advocate on Emerson College’s campus emphasizes my long-time commitment to social justice and mental health accessibility. I founded Active Minds at Emerson College, a branch of the nonprofit organization supporting mental health awareness and education for young adults through over 600 college campus chapters. Our organization advocated for increased counseling staff, raised awareness for the school’s first 24-hour counseling hotline, and helped establish a new protocol for dealing with life-threatening mental illness in the Undergraduate Student Handbook. We also supported the national Active Minds organization by piloting the first “Stigma Fighter Workshop,” dedicated to educating and empowering students to be more effective advocates on their campus and within their personal lives. In 2015, I was recognized at the Active Minds national conference with the Student Leader of the Year Award for my innovative and impactful leadership. With my MA, I will be armed to continue the fight for progressive change within the fields of sexual and mental health, while also promoting the well-being of my clients. In order to make a difference as a therapist, I am uniquely interested in often overlooked aspects of mental health obstacles related to sexual experiences. While in graduate school, I hope to pursue research related to how trauma or grief impacts sexual health and satisfaction. I particularly would love to work with individuals who struggle with vulvodynia - a condition that impacts more women than breast cancer, but is sworn to secrecy in society. Vulvodynia is an ongoing pain around the opening of the vagina, which can make sex or even sitting down impossible. This is just one example of how I would love to specialize my practice as a therapist, focused on these populations of suffering people who might be offered physical treatment, but may not have an outlet for the variety of mental health and relationship concerns that they deal with on a daily basis. It would be an incredible honor to receive your support so that I am able to make this career change and offer silenced patients a place for therapeutic support. My therapist of three years told me that the best therapists are those who pursue understanding, empowerment, and wellness for others in their day-to-day lives. If this is true, then I've been preparing for this program all my life.

Pursuing a Master’s in Clinical Psychology feels like nothing short of a personal calling, a lifetime in the making. My goal is to become a marriage and family therapist, specializing in the intersection of sexual and mental health. My therapist of three years told me that the best therapists are those who pursue understanding, empowerment, and wellness for others in their day-to-day lives. If this is true, then I've been preparing for this journey all my life. My undergraduate career, in particular, was defined by mental health advocacy. I founded Active Minds at Emerson College, a branch of the nonprofit organization supporting mental health awareness and education for young adults through over 600 college campus chapters. Our organization advocated for increased counseling staff, raised awareness for the school’s first 24-hour counseling hotline, and helped establish a new protocol for dealing with life-threatening mental illness in the Undergraduate Student Handbook. We also supported the national Active Minds organization by piloting the first “Stigma Fighter Workshop,” dedicated to educating and empowering students to be more effective advocates on their campus and within their personal lives. In 2015, I was recognized at the Active Minds national conference with the Student Leader of the Year Award for my innovative and impactful leadership. Active Minds at Emerson College won “Organization of the Year” on campus, and I was personally awarded the Jennifer Stowers Quintal Visionary Award for Distinction in Community Service and Social Advocacy. My advocacy work has been the perfect primer for my graduate studies at Antioch, which centers on and encourages social action through our studies. With my MA, I will be armed to continue the fight for progressive change within the fields of sexual and mental health, while also promoting the well-being of my clients.

Pursuing a Master’s in Clinical Psychology feels like nothing short of a personal calling, a lifetime in the making. My goal is to become a marriage and family therapist, specializing in the intersection of sexual and mental health. I’m interested in supporting LGBTQ+ adults, patients with C-PTSD, and those navigating particularly stigmatized realms of sexuality, including sex after trauma and non-monogamous relationships. I’ve personally experienced the transformative power of honest and informed therapeutic spaces, and I hope to promote that same healing in others. My experience as an effective mental health advocate on Emerson College’s campus emphasizes my long-time commitment to social justice and mental health accessibility. I founded Active Minds at Emerson College, a branch of the nonprofit organization supporting mental health awareness and education for young adults through over 600 college campus chapters. Our organization advocated for increased counseling staff, raised awareness for the school’s first 24-hour counseling hotline, and helped establish a new protocol for dealing with life-threatening mental illness in the Undergraduate Student Handbook. We also supported the national Active Minds organization by piloting the first “Stigma Fighter Workshop,” dedicated to educating and empowering students to be more effective advocates on their campus and within their personal lives. In 2015, I was recognized at the Active Minds national conference with the Student Leader of the Year Award for my innovative and impactful leadership. Active Minds at Emerson College won “Organization of the Year” on campus, and I was personally awarded the Jennifer Stowers Quintal Visionary Award for Distinction in Community Service and Social Advocacy. My advocacy work has been the perfect primer for my graduate studies at Antioch, which centers on and encourages social action through our studies. With my MA, I will be armed to continue the fight for progressive change within the fields of sexual and mental health, while also promoting the well-being of my clients. The natural synergies between my own values and the values of Antioch University are what drew me to the program – a genuine dedication to economic, social, and environmental justice. While these words can feel like lip service in contemporary society, it is clear to me that Antioch works extremely hard to meet its vision in every classroom. As an aspiring therapist with plans to pursue a sex therapy certification, I knew I would be supported by Antioch’s coursework and community. I’m excited to experience one of the nation’s first graduate psychology specializations devoted to affirmative psychology for LGBTQ+ individuals, and hopefully the sex therapy certification program out of the Seattle campus when I have completed my graduate studies. I look forward to thinking critically and speaking openly about the intersections of personal psychology, culture, and human sexuality while at Antioch. Psychology is a field that works to liberate individuals, while still needing to reflect on its own biases and origins. I trust Antioch University to offer me the nuanced perspective that I need to be a modern, progressive, and trauma-informed marriage and family therapist. My graduate study is a reclamation of myself. It is an act of resistance against fear and silence. It means finally putting well-earned foundations and hard-wired passions to work. My therapist of three years told me that the best therapists are those who pursue understanding, empowerment, and wellness for others in their day-to-day lives. If this is true, then I've been preparing for this program all my life.

My name is Ashley McManus, a 1st year graduate student at Antioch University in Los Angeles pursuing a master’s degree in Clinical Psychology. Pursuing this degree feels like nothing short of a personal calling, a lifetime in the making. My therapist of three years told me that the best therapists are those who pursue understanding, empowerment, and wellness for others in their day-to-day lives. If this is true, then I've been preparing for this journey all my life. I’ve personally experienced the transformative power of honest and informed therapeutic spaces, and I hope to promote that same healing in others. My relationships with therapy and mental health are central to how I overcame the deaths of both of my parents and eventually found my calling in helping others through traumatizing and stigmatized experiences. I was exposed to a complicated mix of mental illness and trauma in childhood. Throughout my development, I was told by well-meaning adults that I was “emotionally mature” for my age – a statement that now gives me pause. Emotional maturity is seldom born from inexperience. As any “Family Medical History” form I have filled out will tell you, both of my parents died before the age of 24 – one from cirrhosis of the liver induced by alcoholism and one from suicide. Without these events and the experiences leading up to them, you would not be reading my words today. I found fulfillment and clarity through my therapeutic journey with CBT, mindfulness, EMDR, and psychodynamic therapy. These experiences deepen my empathy as an aspiring therapist and will allow me to relate to my patients authentically and powerfully. My C-PTSD colors my perspective and will assist me in helping clients navigate the dark, unexpected, and stigmatized corners of their own lives. In response to the mental health challenges I witnessed growing up and my affected mental health, I became extremely passionate about difficult-to-discuss topics and accessibility. I founded Active Minds at Emerson College as an undergraduate freshman, a branch of the nonprofit organization supporting mental health awareness and education for young adults through over 600 college campus chapters. Our organization advocated for increased counseling staff, raised awareness for the school’s first 24-hour counseling hotline, and helped establish a new protocol for dealing with life-threatening mental illness in the Undergraduate Student Handbook. We also supported the national Active Minds organization by piloting the first “Stigma Fighter Workshop,” dedicated to educating and empowering students to be more effective advocates on their campus and within their personal lives. In 2015, I was recognized at the Active Minds national conference with the Student Leader of the Year Award for my innovative and impactful leadership. Active Minds at Emerson College won “Organization of the Year” on campus, and I was personally awarded the Jennifer Stowers Quintal Visionary Award for Distinction in Community Service and Social Advocacy. My advocacy work has been the perfect primer for my graduate studies at Antioch, which centers on and encourages social action through our studies. With my MA, I will be armed to continue the fight for progressive change within the fields of sexual and mental health, while also promoting the well-being of my clients.