About Us

Almost every therapist goes into the profession with a desire to help people.  Such was the case for Mark Maxwell when he started in private practice after learning the incredible power of change through systemic approaches to therapy, attachment theory, and interpersonal neurobiology.  After receiving advanced training in Emotionally Focused Therapy, Mark realized how powerful such work could be not only in transforming the lives of the clients he worked with, but in their communities as well.  Very quickly, however, the realization came that for most people wanting therapy, this work was simply not affordable or accessible given the way the mental health system works in the U.S.  Outside the U.S., this discrepancy becomes even greater, not just for people needing healing but for clinicians to be trained.  Both within and outside of the United States, marginalized and low-income communities, very often times communities of color, carry the greatest burden of trauma and therefore stand to benefit from the power of systemic, trauma-informed therapies the most.   And yet, they have the least access and languish stuck in oppressive, damaging cycles of trauma and pain.  For Mark, this simply did not seem like something to put aside.  Something must be done.

Thus Conexa was born.  As a budding therapist with the ability to bring powerful healing to clients and change to communities, and yet with hands tied by a mental health system to make real impact beyond sliding scales for a client here and there, Mark set out to develop innovation through collaborations and partnerships with incredible people feeling the same call.  Mark's story became the story of so many others seeking to transform their communities with the power of systemic, relational and trauma-focused work. Weaving these stories together, unsettled with the status quo, united in desire to heal, committed to innovating ways to bring this work to every community, and dedicated to the long term vision of community transformation, Mark and his colleagues continue to write the story of Conexa and the people who bless it with their gifts.