Back From a Working Vacation

Three weeks ago, I wrote that I was suspending the Newsletter for a couple of weeks while I took a break and went visiting back east.

I did and the results were a little surprising.

First, it’s always disconcerting to visit the part of western Pennsylvania where I grew up. The memories of those years are very mixed and some of what I can see in hindsight was worse than what I experienced at the time. I’m sure many of you are familiar with that discomfort.

Yet there was also comfort in visiting with old friends I hadn’t seen since high school or college. Comfort to in driving the old roads through the tiny rural communities I knew so well as a kid.

Perhaps the strangest part was looking at houses that were for sale and knowing that I could, after 60 years, move back and be happier now than I ever was then.

Judy was with me and we spent several days tearing around the county with my friend Beth from those long gone days. Looked at houses, visited old land marks, sampled forgotten restaurants and points of at least mild interest.

Judy noted, “You know we could retire, sell the CA house, and live here quite comfortably?”

And that started the process by which we acquired a house in Sharon, PA., a block from Buhl Park, and began planning our move which was more than just logistics. Notably, what to do about her work and mine?

That wasn’t all that hard. We’d each been working from home for at least a year and a half and I had been for three. Judy’s financial clients were dwindling as were Mary Ellen and my counseling clients.

It is surprising how easy it has been to begin the transition – one she and I, and Mary Ellen, are all ready for.

Therefore, I am writing to say that Mary Ellen and I are accepting no more new clients. Your Empowering Solutions, Inc, non12step.com will be closing even as you read this. Perhaps, like the Phoenix, to be reborn in an altered guise next year, but for now, hibernation is at hand.

I will retain the website and I imagine I will revamp it, as a solo practice more focused on research, sometime after the first of the year. The email addresses, DrBarnes@non12step.com and DrWilson@non12step.com will remain active for former clients and friends for awhile at least.

I also anticipate returning to my previous work with Dr. Jane Loevinger’s Model and Measure of adult maturity, The Sentence Completion Test, for which there continues to be a demand for rating and interpretive expertise.

It’s been a good 17 year run and we thank you for your interest, support, and contributions to the program over the years. We will miss you.

Edward W. Wilson & Mary Ellen Barnes