By Nadine Schumont – Davis Facilitator
A young woman came to see me a couple of years ago. She was with her pastor and his wife. She didn’t say much. Her head was down most of the time, and everything about her felt flat, like she wasn’t really connected to anything around her.
She had been struggling for a long time. She’d been off work because of depression. She’d been in hospital more than once because she didn’t want to be here anymore.
When I started the assessment with her, she stayed the same. Short answers. No emotion. No real connection.
Then I asked about the kids in her life, her nieces and nephews.
And just like that, she lit up.
It wasn’t big or dramatic, but the shift was clear. Her face changed. Her energy changed. In that moment, I knew there was still joy in her. And where there is joy, there is life. That became our focus.
We started her Davis Concepts for Life® program and simply followed the process, step by step, concept by concept. Nothing was forced, and nothing was rushed.
As she began to understand concepts like cause and consequence, change, wants and needs, and how her thoughts and perceptions were shaping her experience, something began to shift.
It wasn’t about adding anything new to her. It was about clearing what was in the way. The thoughts, the heaviness, the patterns that were stopping her from seeing the joy that was already there in her life.
And she worked through it. Gently, but fully.
At one point, she took a short break in the program. During that time, she went back to her workplace, not to jump back in, but to train. She wanted to prepare herself so that when she finished the program, she could return the very next day feeling ready.
And that’s exactly what she did.
Today, she lives independently in her own place. She’s returned to work, continues to grow, and is connected to her community in a new way, more open, more present, and grounded within herself.
And most importantly, she is here.
I still think back to that first moment. Not the assessment or the program, but that small shift when she thought about those kids. That’s where it started.
Not with fixing something. With her remembering that joy was still there.
And sometimes, that’s all it takes to begin finding your way back.
Life can feel heavy. But understanding creates space. The Davis Concepts for Life program helps people clear what’s in the way so they can reconnect with who they truly are — and the life that’s still possible.
Change is possible. Joy is still there.
“Where there is joy, there is life.”