About Dr. Mary Rayven Owens.

My path began during a dark night of the soul

My name is Mary Rayven Owens and I am a Transpersonal Psychologist and NYS Licensed Mental Health Counselor. I am also a Board Certified TeleMental Health Provider.

However, I am also a retired New York City Police Officer who was a first responder at Ground Zero during the World Trade Center terrorist attacks on 9/11/01.

The horrific visions and sounds of hurting and helpless people, extended working hours and the trauma of losing fellow officers and friends rattled my assumptive world.

Symptoms of PTSD ushered me into my personal Dark Night of the Soul which affected me deeply for many months afterwards. That is, until POPPA (Police Officers Providing Peer Assistance) came along.

Meeting POPPA on the path

POPPA (Police Officers Providing Peer Assistance) consisted of police officers that volunteer their time to manage a twenty-four-hour hotline, face-to-face and group sessions in order to counsel officers in crises (under the supervision of trained clinicians).

The POPPA program helped me to manage the loss I experienced through group discussions with other officers who were experiencing similar emotions and experiences that I had. As a result, I took a course sponsored by POPPA and I became a certified Peer Support Officer.

Originally, I joined the program to offer the same critical incident support that helped me, however, my interests grew beyond the boundaries of counseling police officers and I went back to school in order to obtain the degrees and NYS licensure that would enable me to gain professional flexibility and serve a broader community.

The healing path

The World Trade Center terrorist attacks was a life-altering and existential experience for me. As a result, during my own healing process I became more understanding, empathetic, compassionate and open to diverse experiences and ways of being in the world.

Therefore, one of the most beneficial outcomes of such a traumatic experience, was to use what I learned on my own healing path as motivation to seek teaching and psychological counseling as professions where my life experience would be best used to serve a diverse community.