From Pain to Awakening: Evolving Into Women of Substance

Sheila Early, MSW, ACSW, LCSW (aka Ahmadi). Ahmadi is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with over 25 years of clinical and social work administration experience in health care, mental health, trauma services for high risk teens and women, and counseling. She has specialized training in Child and Adolescent Assessment & Treatment and Family Therapy. Her treatment philosophy is to assist clients experience themselves differently to lead more satisfying lives. She does this through utilizing music, affirmations, relaxation techniques, poetry, and other related modalities. Her primary interest is to help adolescent females and adult women move beyond self-defeating behaviors to be empowered women in control of their lives. Ahmadi has also written, directed, and produced a 12 minute DVD on infant mortality and low birth-weight. The DVD was funded by a central Virginia locality experiencing this health disparity. Additionally, she has written, directed, and produced a community play on an African-American Nursery and Day Care Center that existed for over 50 years in the Staunton, Virginia community. This play is a precursor to a narrative she is currently completing on this historic child care facility. She lives in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley famous for its captivating scenery and the majestic Blue Ridge Mountains. She can be contacted at early_sheila@yahoo.com.