Claire Houston

Founder, Women Supporting Women Center

By Suzanne D'Amato

Two key phrases have helped shape the decisions Claire Houston makes in her life. They motivate her to take charge of her future, rather than wait on the sidelines for someone else to do it for her.

The phrases – “If you’re missing something in your environment, it’s because you’re not bringing it” and “You are the leader you are looking for” – were tested in 1995 when Houston and her husband, Brad, moved from Huntington, Long Island, N.Y., to Exeter because he changed jobs.

Houston missed the camaraderie of the Huntington-based women’s center she’d been associated with for eight years, so she decided to start one of her own.

“If there’s something wrong with you – addiction, chronic pain or grief, for example – you can belong to many groups,” said Houston, a licensed psychotherapist.

“However, if you’re in pretty good shape, you don’t really belong anywhere. I thought that was backwards, so I opened the Women Supporting Women Center in Exeter with $800. I figured I’d close it when I ran out of money. That was in February 1996, and it’s still going strong today.”

Most people think of a women’s center as a refuge for women in crisis. In contrast, participants at the WSW Center share with each other a positive sense of community and belonging within the context of promoting wellness. Participants agree to use the center’s guidelines when speaking in group sessions to ensure confidentiality and that others are listening without judgment and speaking without offering advice.

The center’s offerings address many contemporary issues through various formats, including informal lunchtime gatherings, book-discussion groups or workshops. Topics include leadership training, self-marketing, dream interpretation, meditation, divorce and blended families. Some workshops, such as meditation, are open to men as well.

Houston also operates her private counseling practice at the center to support the group’s offerings.

“The WSW Center celebrates solutions, rather than problems, and strengths, rather than weaknesses – as well as accomplishments, what you’re good at and what’s right with you,” Houston said.

“I absolutely love this work. It keeps me positively focused and always looking for new tools to uplift, enlighten and share with folks at the center and in my personal life.”

To complement her passion for wellness, Houston is interested in holistic healing – the balance of body, mind, spirit and happiness – and she is an advanced attunement practitioner. Attunement is the process of aligning the body’s sources of energy.

Houston also is committed to nutritional eating and traditionally preparing and cooking foods – now called the “slow food” movement.

“For example, I grow yogurt cultures in my oven at home, and I try to buy food grown at local farms practicing sustainable agriculture,” she said. “I’m also very interested in supporting my hometown economy by patronizing locally owned businesses.”

Houston and her husband have a 6-year-old daughter named Evie. As her daughter matures, Houston predicts her motherly advice will be for Evie to discover her own uniqueness and not allow other people to define her.

“Of course,” Houston added, “I’ll encourage Evie to join a women’s center. If she can’t find one in her community, I’ll hope she’ll start one of her own and be the leader she’s looking for.”

To learn more about the Women Supporting Women Center, visit www.wswcenter.com.

Suzanne D’Amato is a freelance writer who lives in Bedford.