Meet Amanda.

Amanda Griffith-Atkins is a licensed marriage and family therapist and founder of Amanda Atkins Counseling Group in Chicago.

Amanda earned a Master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Northwestern University, but it wasn’t until her son was diagnosed with a rare genetic condition that she discovered her life’s purpose: to help parents of disabled children find their stride.

Shortly after launching her career as a therapist, Amanda gave birth to her first child, Asher. At just 7-weeks-old, he was diagnosed with Prader-Willi Syndrome, a rare genetic condition that occurs in one in every 20,000 live births. Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS) is marked by cognitive delays, behavioral issues, and an insatiable hunger.

Amanda was devastated, but the world was not accepting of her feelings of grief, anger, and sadness. The demands of raising a disabled child forced Amanda to sacrifice her career in order to care for her son. But as days turned to weeks and weeks turned to months, her identity began to slip further and further from her grasp. Guilt and shame drove her to hide her true feelings with a positive attitude, but it didn’t last long. As a trained marriage and family therapist, it felt unnatural to mask her true self in order to play the role of “mom.”

There was a gap in support around special needs parenting, and Amanda had experienced it firsthand. She decided there had to be an alternative—one that allowed her to be partner, friend, and therapist in addition to being a disability mom. Soon, she’d discovered an entire community of parents who felt, as she had, that their identity was being overtaken by the demands of raising a high-needs child. She could relate, not only to the sadness and shame in their eyes, but also to their need to appease society's expectations of what it means to be a “special needs warrior.” With their support, she committed to creating space for the “dark side” of parenting a disabled child. On the particularly hard days, she allowed herself to be vocal about her own feelings of grief and inequity in the world of raising a child with a disability.

With a newfound clarity, Amanda eased her way back into the working world. Today, she lives in Chicago with her husband and three sons and maintains a group therapy practice specializing in parenting, grief and loss, and couples therapy.  Renowned for her unique perspective on disability parenting, Amanda is an in-demand speaker, author, and guest lecturer. Amanda is currently writing her forthcoming book, The Hardest Hardest Job: A Compassionate Guide to Caring for Yourself While Raising a Disabled Child. Her book will be out in April, 2025 and will be published by Workman Publishing.