Maureen Callahan Smith

Boston area psychotherapist Maureen Callahan Smith grew up amidst the beautiful Northern Berkshire mountains of Western Massachusetts. She was deeply formed by her roots in this close-knit area, surrounded by her extended family.

An avid reader all her life, Maureen credits her mom, her grade school nuns, and the local children’s librarians for fostering her love of books. She has always had a strong interest in how people survive hardship. As early as 6th grade, she recalls Marie Killea’s book Karen, the chronicle of raising a spirited daughter born with cerebral palsy, arriving with her Scholastic book order, and leaving a lasting impression on her.

Her interest in resiliency also formed the basis for her lifelong practice of working out what she is thinking, feeling, and learning in handwritten journals. She considers her writing “godmothers” to be the poet May Sarton, Anne Morrow Lindbergh, Mary Oliver, Julia Cameron, Annie Lamott, Rachel Naomi Remen, and Elisabeth Berg.

Her own history with perinatal loss and cancer only deepened her interest in helping others survive traumatic experiences. She has continued to reach for spiritual meaning through her decades-long practice of yoga and meditation, including time studying in India. She has been a member of the co-operative artist community of Turtle Studios since 1993. Working with numerous writing mentors and with her long-term writing group, she completed her memoir Grace Street: A Sister’s Memoir of Grief & Gratitude (Gray Dove Press). An excerpt from Grace Street won the Second Career Writer’s Award at the Cape Cod Writer’s Conference, and as of November 2021, Grace Street was ranked # 8/100 in Amazon’s Best New Releases on Grief and Loss.

She continues to practice as a therapist on Boston’s north shore, and balances her work with continued engagement in writing and art-making. She also takes much joy these days spending time with the growing pod of little ones cropping up, to her delight, in her extended family. She lives in the Greater Boston area with her husband, Tony.