Healing Future Generations: One woman's journey in helping expectant families & parents of young children
ABOUT: This feature profile highlights the trauma-informed work of Dr. Gretchen Buchanan at the Redleaf Center for Family Healing. This story explores how perinatal and postnatal mental health, generational trauma, accessibility, community outreach and clinical insight come together to support new and expectant parents navigating emotional and social challenges.
Role: Interviewer | Writer | Editor | Visual Curator Publisher
Duties: I led this story from start to finish—interviewing the subject, translating scientific and technical information into an easy-to-digest format by crafting the narrative with a human-centered focus. I refined the piece through multiple editing rounds, including scientific peer review for factual accuracy. Finally, I sourced, curated, and captioned all visuals and published the final story on WordPress.
Published in: HHRI News, 2025
Summary: As part of HHRI’s mission to spotlight researchers creating real-world impact, this researcher profile showcases how Dr. Gretchen Buchanan combines trauma-informed research with community outreach (like film screenings) to support expectant and new parents. It highlights the Redleaf Center’s mission to promote generational wellness through mental health and parenting support, while emphasizing the emotional and social realities of motherhood.
“I felt like I wanted to change things more systematically and that I wanted to change things on a generational level. And so much of the time, I encountered [the parents of troubled adolescents] over and over again that either had no idea that they had a mental health condition that wasn’t being treated, or they didn’t have access to treatment. And so, the lack of awareness and then, even if there was some sense of awareness, the lack of access to appropriate care.”