The Power To Create Safe Spaces for Healing

Erin Snow is the founder of Seacoast Listening Lounge.

By Erin Snow

For nearly two decades, I worked in New Hampshire’s family court system, where inequity was impossible to ignore. I watched mothers lose custody after being labeled “unstable” for protecting their children. I saw justice tilt toward those who could afford it, and immigrants signed agreements they barely understood because no proper interpreter was available.

Refusing to accept this, I spoke up. I became the first paralegal in the state allowed to represent clients in court, expanding access to justice for people who otherwise had none.

My time in advocacy taught me that change often begins with showing up, speaking up, and refusing to give up. When I left the legal field, I carried those lessons into a new chapter. I founded Seacoast Listening Lounge, a space for emotional support that exists outside therapy or coaching. Here, people can talk freely and be heard without judgment, diagnosis, or performance.

Leaving a stable legal career forced me to challenge my own beliefs. I learned that help doesn’t have to come from institutions or credentials. Change can be personal. Each conversation is now a chance to practice presence and empathy.

Traditional systems, even with good intentions, can make people feel small or unseen. I designed my practice to be the opposite: human, fluid, and deeply relational. I am also training others in empathetic listening, building a community around the idea that listening itself can be healing.

My greatest inspiration comes from my mother, who learned later in life to face discomfort rather than ignore it. That personal transformation reminds me that growth is always possible, and that creating change starts, simply, by listening better.

Erin Snow is the Founder of Seacoast Listening Lounge in Hampton, N.H. https://www.facebook.com/seacoastlisteninglounge ; https://www.instagram.com/seacoastlisteninglounge/ ; https://www.linkedin.com/in/erin-snow-237998334/ ; https://seacoastlisteninglounge.com/