Retreat Team

Emily Carey

Musician, Presenter, and Small Group Leader

Emily Carey has lived in Denver, Colorado for 9 years. A wife, worship leader, and marketer by profession, Emily had her first experience with Life-Giving Wounds in 2021 when asked to fill in as a musician on an upcoming Denver retreat. Emily knew almost instantly that the Holy Spirit was preparing something beautiful for her, and thus began her journey of healing. 

Emily graduated from the University of Denver with a double major in Psychology and Music Performance. She loves leading her fellow adult children of divorce in praise and worship, encouraging them to go deeper into prayer and express their grief and joy through song. Emily joined the traveling retreat team in 2022. 

Jen Cox

Presenter and Small Group Leader

As an adult child of divorced parents, Jen is passionate about Life-Giving Wounds. After attending her first LGW retreat in 2018, Jen followed the Lord’s prompting to get involved! Currently, she serves on the traveling retreat team, assists the National Leadership team and occasionally contributes to our Instagram and the LGW blog. She is also a contributor to Primal Loss: The Now-Adult Children of Divorce Speak. Professionally, Jen is a Catholic Wellness Coach, using a whole-person, Christ-centered approach to health, wellness and healing supporting Catholics get unstuck and gain clarity towards the life they desire and God’s wills one little way at a time. Connect with Jen via Instagram or her website.

Sarah Hart, MTS

Presenter and Small Group Leader

Sarah Hart grew up in Boston and is an adult child of divorce. She graduated from Christendom College with a B.A. in English Language and Literature.  After Christendom, she spent a year in the Dominican Republic as a missionary teaching catechesis, English, and piano classes, as well as running youth groups and Bible studies among other ministries. 

Following her time in the Dominican Republic, Sarah continued her studies at the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies of Marriage and Family in Washington, D.C., where she received a Masters of Theological Studies. Sarah taught third grade at St. Jerome Academy in Hyattsville, MD for four years. During that time, she met her husband, Dan. She is now a stay-at-home mom to their two sons. Sarah has a passion for ministry and is open to serving the Church in whichever way the Lord leads. She is graduate of the Life-Giving Wounds retreat and has participated on the retreat team as a presenter and small group leader since 2016. 

Fr. Jim McCormack, MIC

Retreat Priest and Small Group Leader

Fr. Jim McCormack, MIC, is a priest for the Congregation of Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary and an adult child of divorce.

He received a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Yale University and a Master’s degree in the same subject from Stanford University. After graduate school, he moved to Colorado, where he worked seven years for Hewlett-Packard and skied every month of the year for seventy consecutive months!

His first sense of a priestly calling came in graduate school, but he ignored the call for nearly six years. During that time, he was engaged to be married, but his fiancée broke off their engagement six months before the wedding. It was at that point that he decided to take his original calling more seriously. On a pilgrimage to Italy in 2002, while praying in the Holy House of Loreto, he received the grace to follow the Lord’s invitation to become a priest.

He eventually entered the Marian Congregation and was ordained to the priesthood on July 10, 2010. He later earned his licentiate in Rome in the Theology of the Consecrated Life. He now serves as novice master, prefect of formation, provincial councilor and local superior at the Marian house of studies in Washington, D.C.

Lacy Prebula, MTS

Presenter and Small Group Leader

Lacy Prebula is a lifelong Marylander and an adult child of divorce. She became a Catholic while she was a student at the University of Maryland. After college, she attended the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family where she received her masters in theological studies.

Lacy and her husband Tony have three beautiful children with another on the way. Together they own and run Saints Row Brewing. Lacy recently joined the LGW leadership team as the DC Chapter Coordinator. She is also a stay-at-home homeschooling mom.

Lacy credits much of the healing from her parents' divorce to her time at the John Paul II Institute and her work with the Life-Giving Wounds ministry. She is honored to be on the retreat team and to have this opportunity to share Christ's healing with others.

Teresa Swick

Presenter and Small Group Leader

Teresa is a native of Rockville, MD, and the fourth of six kids. While she was growing up, her parents’ marriage was very rocky and included a period of separation. She has always had an interest in people, emotions, and helping people know God better and be as happy as they can be.

Teresa earned her B.A. in psychology with a minor in theology at the University of Notre Dame. Since graduation, she has served the Youth Leadership Foundation of DC, Centro Tepeyac Women's Center, George Mason University's Catholic Campus Ministry, the Saint John Paul II National Shrine, and the USCCB. She also spent 8 months in Peru, volunteering at a home for sick children. Her favorite job was serving as a campus minister, but her work at the John Paul II Shrine comes in close second, since that's where she met her husband, Joe. She and Joe welcomed their first child, John Paul, into the world in June of 2019. Teresa is excited to be a part of the Life-Giving Wounds ministry because she believes that her experiences of hurt and healing give her something to offer those who are going through similar experiences to her own. 

Dr. Jill Verschaetse

Presenter and Small Group Leader

Dr. Jill Verschaetse is a wife, mother, and licensed clinical psychologist. She is an adult child of divorce and attended the very first Life-Giving Wounds retreat. Her clinical work includes therapy with individuals, families, and couples. She also provides psychological assessments for those seeking entrance or holy vows in religious communities. Dr. Jill’s doctoral dissertation focused on the bridal identity of women and the ways in which early traumas (including divorce) can impact the development of their identity. She is passionate about the healing of hearts and has a special affection for those who have suffered the wounds of divorce or separation. 

Dr. Jill and her husband, Dr. Nate (also a licensed clinical psychologist), are psychological advisors for Life-Giving Wounds. They live in AZ with their two young sons. Dr. Jill is privileged to currently spend most of her time with her children, who both have special needs. Through her boys and especially through their particular challenges, God has granted knowledge of the well-spring of graces offered to families. Dr. Jill also occasionally writes for the Life-Giving Wounds blog and considers it an honor to be a part of this ministry.