meet Mary Dobson
WRITER | SPEAKER | FOUNDER
Licensed Psychotherapist, Certified Eating Disorder Specialist, + Certified Trauma Specialist
what does it mean to reclaim your true self?
I help women break free from limiting beliefs, both internal and external, so they can rediscover who they truly are and live with clarity, confidence, and purpose.
Whether I’m working with clients, supervising, or leading trainings, I help people reconnect with their own truth. I don’t define the path — I help you see the one that’s already within you.
I’ve gone from patient to provider. Now, I’m sharing my experience as a trainer, speaker, and writer to help others on their path.
My work is shaped by years of experience as a systems therapist, entrepreneur, employer, mother, and woman who is continually doing the work of returning to herself. This blend of professional training and lived experience guides a patient-centered approach that honors each person’s unique path to healing.
I take a holistic and integrative view of care. Rather than offering quick fixes or one-size-fits-all solutions, I help people move through the patterns and pressures that keep them stuck so they can find more clarity, meaning, and personal power in the present.
In a field where burnout is common and often dismissed, I am committed to creating spaces that are safe, sustainable, and truly restorative for women who are used to carrying it all.
In my work leading two healthcare companies, I stay grounded in learning and service. I enjoy exploring emerging mental health research to inform my clinical practice, develop new initiatives, and speak in communities to help normalize mental health care.
With a certification in school-based systems psychology and a background in executive leadership in healthcare, I bring a unique perspective on how people function within systems — whether in families, schools, or organizations.
My keynotes speak directly to the challenges that many professionals face, especially women navigating leadership, burnout, parenthood, and the immense pressure to always hold it all together. I aim to lead with honesty, insight, and care.
In both workplace and community settings, I help leaders identify the hidden dynamics that hold their teams back. Using tools from systems and organizational psychology, I support them in creating environments that foster growth, connection, and clarity for their team members.
Organizations thrive when their people do. Real change happens when individuals feel seen and safe to bring their whole selves — not just their strengths, but their challenges, fears, and hopes. That’s when true growth becomes possible.
Most women don’t realize they’re burnt out — they just keep going. They stay busy, stay useful, stay in control. But somewhere along the way, they lose touch with themselves..
My work is about helping high-achieving women come home to the parts of themselves they’ve had to hide, ignore, or push aside. When we begin to accept — and even care for — the pieces we once avoided, we stop living from survival mode and start making decisions from clarity, not shame or pressure.
You don’t have to fall apart to justify slowing down. You don’t need a crisis to deserve care.
This is where you begin to recover yourself.
Mary Dobson is a nationally recognized systems therapist, speaker, and entrepreneur who helps high-achieving women reconnect with themselves and recover their sense of purpose.
Founder of LIFT Wellness Company, a national outpatient behavioral health platform with brick-and-mortar services in Westport, CT – Boca Raton, FL – Fairfax, Virginia.
Founder of Lift Teen and Parent Wellness Centers, an OPCC, IOP/PHP for mood, anxiety, and eating disorders, ages 10-18
Founder of LiftWell, a day treatment program OPCC, IOP/PHP for mood, anxiety, and eating disorders, ages 18+
Keynote speaker for Connecticut Women’s Consortium, FindingYou retreats, and Apex International Education Partners, Inc.
Regular presenter to schools, universities, corporations, and city government on health and wellness, performance, motivation, leadership
Excellence in EAP program design and corporate wellness programming
Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy from Fairfield University (Psi Chi, Phi Beta Kappa)
Post-graduate Education Certification in Systemic School-based Mental Health Intervention Services (Endorsement Code #268, Educator ID: #5662299128)
Offerings
lift wellness
A nationwide holistic, integrative center offering tailored mental health therapy, psychiatric care, neuropsychological testing, nutrition services, wellness coaching, and empowerment to individuals, groups, and families.
Mary Dobson is the Founder and Clinical Director of LIFT Wellness, a comprehensive brick-and-mortar and virtual wellness center uniquely designed to integrate mental and physical health, addressing the whole person. LIFT offers personalized mental health therapy and wellness coaching that empowers clients to reclaim their well-being. Whether you’re struggling with trauma, anxiety, or just seeking balance, LIFT provides a safe and supportive environment where healing and transformation can begin. We believe true wellness comes from addressing the mind, body, and spirit—so you can reclaim your life.
Speaking
Take your community on a journey to Recover Self–for more authenticity, empowerment, and deep fulfillment.
Mary Dobson is a transformative speaker who empowers women to reclaim their true selves. Her talks challenge internalized expectations, offering women the tools to break free from the simulated to embody their authentic selves. Each keynote is tailored to your event, focusing on self-recovery, authenticity, and empowerment. Mary delivers with directness, humor, and compassion, ensuring that every audience leaves inspired and equipped to take actionable steps toward personal transformation.
Liftwell health
A licensed, structured, freestanding psychiatric facility offering outpatient, intensive outpatient, and partial hospitalization day therapy programs to children, adolescents, and adults with mental health and eating disorders in Westport, CT.
Reclaim Your True Self
You’ve been holding it together for everyone else. The Self Recovery Guide is your first step in checking in with yourself and making room to breathe, reflect, and reconnect. Enter your email to get it instantly.
Use this guide to identify where you’re overextended, what you’ve been ignoring, and how to begin shifting back into alignment with what matters most.
Relationship to Self
Uncover how your relationship with yourself influences every aspect of your life. Learn to embrace all parts of who you are and stop living for external validation.
Joy
Discover what truly brings you happiness. Break free from societal expectations to find the activities, relationships, and experiences that genuinely light you up.
Spiritual life
Reconnect with your inner wisdom and spiritual beliefs, whether they’ve been hidden, neglected, or forgotten. Cultivate a sense of inner peace and alignment with your higher self.
Purpose
Gain clarity on your deeper calling. This guide will help you reconnect with your true purpose, giving you the direction and motivation to live more intentionally.
identity
Strip away the layers of who you think you should be and explore who you truly are at your core—your values, passions, and authentic self.