Marat Shpolyansky

I was born in Odessa, Ukraine in 1975, while it was still part of the Soviet Union. In 1978, I immigrated to the United States with my parents and older brother. My parents were children of Holocaust survivors. Trauma and depression were very much prevalent in my family and community. However, the stigma of mental illness prevented any of my family members from seeking help. I grew up seeing the effects of trauma that resulted in dissolution of marriages and various addictions. I was always interested in these stories and initially thought my role was to tell them. I later realized my interests lie more in helping people reshape their stories and empower them to transform their lives.