Granby, CT – April 4, 2013 – The District 53 Toastmasters Communication & Leadership Award annually recognizes an influential non-Toastmaster for outstanding community service in leadership and communication. This year, District 53 Toastmasters proudly presents its 2013 Communication & Leadership Award to Ms. Kathleen Saucier, MS, LPC, LMHC, NCC.
For over a decade, Ms. Saucier has dedicated herself to support individuals and their families through difficult and traumatic experiences – both military and civilian. She is currently the Readjustment Counselor for the Department of Veterans Affairs at the Hartford Vet Center, and the former Director of Psychological Health for the Connecticut National Guard. In these roles, Kathleen has weaved her experience in crisis management, individual/group counseling, leadership consultation and training, and program management to support Military, Reserve, and National Guard veterans and their families to healthily readjust into family and civilian life. Among other roles, she has also acted as a mental health counselor and prevention specialist within school districts and community centers.
In addition to conventional counseling, Ms. Saucier is known for her use of canines and horses to support the healing of troubled populations, such as foster care youths, trauma survivors, military,and children with depression. She has connected people with local non-profit agencies that assisted them with finding a shelter pet and engaged others in her equine programs. These human-animal interactions have drawn out the most isolated, traumatized personalities, leading to thawing of emotional numbness, transforming aggression into assertion, and re-building trust, thus allowing them to lead more balanced and productive lives. The resulting psychological and biological influences of canine and horse companionships have been astounding. Kathleen states, “Lives change; humans that were locked inside themselves and their homes are now participating in outside-the-home events and talking to other people in the community…they have something to talk about that is safe, that they are no longer alone…and have a mission - caring for another being.”
District 53 Toastmasters congratulates Ms. Saucier, an exemplary model in leadership and communication. The District will celebrate her outstanding service and achievements (along with her ADA service dog, Jaguar) at the District 53 Spring 2013 Conference at the Cromwell Plaza Hotel on May 18, 2013.
Congratulations and thank you for all that you do, Kathleen!
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