WHO WE ARE...
Erin, along with her husband, Marc, co-founded Organic Conceptions after their personal experience with infertility. Given her skills as a certified coach and what she and her husband observed on their path to parenthood, she wanted to investigate what helped them and how it could be applied to others in similar situations. She and Marc feel inspired by what they discovered and are proud to offer support and understanding to couples like them.
Organic Conceptions began with founders Erin and Marc Sherman's personal struggle to conceive for close to a decade. Using qualitative and quantitative research practices, they dug deep into stories from couples like them who unexpectedly overcame infertility. Every story individually holds a profound amount of understanding. However, when weaved together, they provide a road map that can guide others on their journey to parenthood and beyond.
Dr. Kate Webster obtained a bachelor's degree from the University of Alaska Southeast & a Ph.D. in Behavioral Psychology from the University of Rhode Island. Her background made her the ideal Chief Researcher in how couples unexpectedly overcame infertility using qualitative and quantitative research practices. Her mapping to pinpoint moments of transitions or triggers that can alter one overall quality of life and reproductive health has been key to our program. She is thrilled to provide a road map that can guide others through their journey to parenthood.
Erin Sherman
Co-Founder & Mindset Coach
Marc Sherman
Co-Founder & CEO
Kate Webster, PhD.
Professor of Psychology & Chief Researcher
Erin Sherman,
Co-Founder & Mindset Coach
Erin, along with her husband, Marc, co-founded Organic Conceptions after their personal experience with infertility. Given her skills as a certified coach and what she and her husband observed on their path to parenthood, she wanted to investigate what helped them and how it could be applied to others in similar situations. She and Marc feel inspired by what they discovered and are proud to offer support and understanding to couples like them.
Organic Conceptions began with founders Erin and Marc Sherman’s personal struggle in trying to conceive for close to a decade. Using both qualitative and quantitative research practices, they dug deep into stories from couples like them who unexpectedly overcame infertility. Every story individually holds a massive amount of insight, however when weaved together, they provide a road map that can guide others on their journey to parenthood and beyond.
Marc Sherman,
CEO & Co-Founder
Organic Conceptions began with founders Erin and Marc Sherman's personal struggle to conceive for close to a decade. Using qualitative and quantitative research practices, they dug deep into stories from couples like them who unexpectedly overcame infertility. Every story individually holds a profound amount of understanding. However, when weaved together, they provide a road map that can guide others on their journey to parenthood and beyond.
Kate makes meaning of the stories we have collected. Her background in Multivariate Statistics combined with a PhD in Psychology makes her the perfect partner. Her philosophy is simple—to understand, at the very core, the sorrows and joys and scientifically map the similarities among them. This mapping can enable us to pinpoint moments of transition and triggers that can weaken not only our quality of life but also damage our reproductive health.
Kate Webster, PhD.
Chief Researcher
Dr. Kate Webster obtained a bachelor's degree from the University of Alaska Southeast (1995) and a Ph.D. in Behavioral Psychology from the University of Rhode Island (2001). Her behavioral and social psychology training made her an ideal Chief Researcher in how couples unexpectedly overcame infertility using qualitative and quantitative research practices. Her mapping to pinpoint moments of transitions or triggers that can alter one overall quality of life and reproductive health has been key to the Organic Conceptions program. She is thrilled to provide a road map that can guide others through their journey to parenthood.
ADVISORS
Regina Townsend
Founder of The Broken Brown Egg
Regina Townsend is a professional youth librarian, infertility advocate, and founder of The Broken Brown Egg. She is passionate about bringing light and representation to the struggle of infertility and its mental, social, and emotional impacts in the African American community and believes in connecting people to the resources they need to make informed health decisions. Her Players 2 & 3 are husband Jahbari, and their long-awaited son, Judah.
Darcy Thachuk, BSW, MSW, RSW
Clinical Reproductive Emotional Health Therapist
Darcy’s mission is to use biopsychosocial therapy to provide mind, body, and spirit connections for couples faced with fertility challenges. Her counseling connects the medical and emotional aspects of infertility to empower and support her clients throughout their journey. She uses a compassionate strength-based approach incorporating Cognitive Behavioral, Narrative, Positive, Humanistic, and Ecological therapies and specializes in infertility, loss, miscarriage, anxiety, depression, identity, grief, surrogacy and third-party reproduction support, and LGBTQ2s family planning.
Tara Brandner, DNP, FNP-C
Tara works as a doctorate family nurse practitioner and fertility coach. After enduring a long road through infertility followed by a traumatic pregnancy, she turned her hurt into hope for others by forming the only infertility nonprofit in North Dakota and South Dakota. She advocates for access to care for infertility care and fertility preservation through legislative efforts and educating key stakeholders. Tara is passionate about supporting those diagnosed with infertility to ensure they move forward with a peaceful mind and in control of their care. She has combined her experience as a healthcare professional and personal struggle with infertility to help navigate infertility patients through their family building path.
Buffy Trupp, MA, RCC, LMFT
Buffy Trupp, MA, RCC, LMFT is a somatic psychotherapist and founder of the Mindful Fertility Project. She has been teaching mindfulness to women and men trying to conceive for 15 years. She is the author of the Mindful Fertility Meditation Series which brings the teachings and practices of mindfulness to fertility challenges. She has had the honor of studying with Dr. Alice Domar, PhD the Director of Mind-Body Services at Boston IVF as well as Ken Farber, MA, founder of Mindfulness Behavioral Skills Training. She has studied Vipassana meditation at Spirit Rock Meditation Center since 2003. She currently practices in the Vajrayana tradition with Lama Mark Webber and Lingtrul Rinpoche on Vancouver Island where she lives with her husband and son. You can find her at mindfulfertilityproject.
ADVISORS
Regina Townsend is a professional youth librarian, infertility advocate, and founder of The Broken Brown Egg. She is passionate about bringing light and representation to the struggle of infertility and its mental, social, and emotional impacts in the African American community and believes in connecting people to the resources they need to make informed health decisions. Her Players 2 & 3 are husband Jahbari, and their long-awaited son, Judah.
Darcy’s mission is to use biopsychosocial therapy to provide mind, body, and spirit connections for couples faced with fertility challenges. Her counseling connects the medical and emotional aspects of infertility to empower and support her clients throughout their journey. She uses a compassionate strength-based approach incorporating Cognitive Behavioral, Narrative, Positive, Humanistic, and Ecological therapies and specializes in infertility, loss, miscarriage, anxiety, depression, identity, grief, surrogacy and third-party reproduction support, and LGBTQ2s family planning.
Buffy Trupp, MA, RCC, LMFT is a somatic psychotherapist and founder of the Mindful Fertility Project. She has been teaching mindfulness to women and men trying to conceive for 15 years. She is the author of the Mindful Fertility Meditation Series which brings the teachings and practices of mindfulness to fertility challenges. She has had the honor of studying with Dr. Alice Domar, PhD the Director of Mind-Body Services at Boston IVF as well as Ken Farber, MA, founder of Mindfulness Behavioral Skills Training. She has studied Vipassana meditation at Spirit Rock Meditation Center since 2003. She currently practices in the Vajrayana tradition with Lama Mark Webber and Lingtrul Rinpoche on Vancouver Island where she lives with her husband and son. You can find her at www.mindfulfertilityproject.
Regina Townsend
Founder of The Broken Brown Egg
Darcy Thachuk, BSW, MSW, RSW
Clinical Reproductive Emotional Health Therapist
Buffy Trupp, MA, RCC, LMFT
Tara works as a doctorate family nurse practitioner and fertility coach. After enduring a long road through infertility followed by a traumatic pregnancy, she turned her hurt into hope for others by forming the only infertility nonprofit in North Dakota and South Dakota. She advocates for access to care for infertility care and fertility preservation through legislative efforts and educating key stakeholders. Tara is passionate about supporting those diagnosed with infertility to ensure they move forward with a peaceful mind and in control of their care. She has combined her experience as a healthcare professional and personal struggle with infertility to help navigate infertility patients through their family building path.
Tara Brandner, DNP, FNP-C
INTERESTED IN JOINING OUR TEAM?
Please tell us a bit about yourself and how you'd like to get involved. From there, we will be in contact with you to discuss next steps!
