Upcoming Events

5th Year Anniversary Gala

Join us in celebrating 5 years of Designed2Connect’s impact!

Support raised from this yearly event allows us to assist those in need of healing and encouragement by providing subsidized professional counseling, D2C Story Groups, and seminars around DC and Northern Virginia.

Our keynote speaker will be Christian psychiatrist Dr. Curt Thompson, author of The Deepest Place and host of the Being Known podcast. We will have dinner, a silent auction, and then a Q&A with Dr. Thompson to close out the evening.

Dress code is Cocktail Attire.

D2C Story Groups Are Coming Up!

Join one of our 10-week D2C Story Groups starting the week of September 15th, 2025!

Designed2Connect is offering a 10-week online small group experience that will help you explore how your family of origin impacts the way you connect with others today. We will look at such things as attachment styles, rupture and repair, styles of relating, and much more. The curriculum we use in these D2C Story Groups will take you on a journey of discovery of past events, from family vacations and dinner table dynamics to feelings of invalidation and times you felt betrayed. You will share your stories in a safe environment and discover more about yourself, how to engage others in deeper ways and discover God's hand in your life.

Learn more >

 

Past Events

Giving Tuesday

December 3, 2024

Thank you to all our donors!

4th Annual Auction

You're invited to join us at the Country Club of Fairfax on November 7 for our 4th Annual Auction!

There will be live music, time to visit with friends over Italian food, and a silent auction.

All proceeds help subsidize the cost of counseling, D2C Story Groups, and seminars for those in financial need around the DC and Northern Virginia area.

Attire: business attire, no jeans, please.

A Mindful May

May 2023

As an organization, we are dedicated to bringing awareness to mental wellness this month. Designed2Connect longs to bring people closer to one another, closer to the Lord, and even closer to understanding themselves. Our prayer is that everyone would “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8). He longs to meet us in our struggles, connect with us, and lead us to healing and freedom through connection with others.

Follow along with us on Instagram or Facebook to keep up with our campaign, and consider becoming a monthly donor to take part in subsidizing the cost of counseling for individuals in need. Follow the button below for more details.

Supportive Parenting Seminar

February 4, 2023

Parenting: one of life's greatest gifts and greatest challenges.

Gain tools to grow more confident in your roles as a parent, build a stronger connection to your child(ren), and learn about the brain science that shapes your relationship with them.

Guest Speakers: Christine Katcher and Phyllis Thompson

Celebrate & Support

CONCERT + SILENT AUCTION

MAY 12TH 2022 | 6:30 PM - 9:00 PM

Jammin Java: 227 Maple Avenue E, Vienna, VA 22180

Save the date for the second annual Designed2Connect Concert and Silent Auction! We hope you can join us for some food and fun to help raise money to subsidize counseling in the greater DC/Northern Virginia area.

We will hear Zack Whisler and his band, listen to a few testimonies from several people positively impacted by Designed2Connect, and bid on some great auction items such as:

  • Day of Golf at Country Club of Fairfax

  • Week at Hilton Head Condo

  • Photography by Abigail Grey Johnston

  • Case of select premium wines - given by Virginia Imports

  • Capitals Game Tickets

  • 2 Beautiful Watercolor Paintings

Hope to see you there!

Attachment Styles Seminar with Kelsey Myers

Join us on October 2nd to learn about your style of attachment and how it impacts the way you connect with others and God.

Screen Shot 2021-08-15 at 2.32.47 PM.png

Kelsey is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. She says, “We are all born with a longing and a need to connect. As vulnerable newborns, our very survival depends upon our ability to hold the attention and attunement of our caregivers. Many of us would like to think that once we grow into adulthood we all but resolve that vulnerability and need for others; however, our nervous system tells a very different story.” Join us in exploring the way our body, brain, and spirit were expertly designed to attach. Learn what it means to examine your history and your very viscera for the pathway to more intimate and authentic connections to yourself, others, and your Creator.

What: Attachment Styles and How They Impact Your Connections with Kelsey Myers from Curt Thompson and Associates

When: Saturday, October 2nd 9:00am - 12:30pm

Where: 8200 Bell Ln, Vienna, VA 22182 (New Song Church/Lorien Wood School). This seminar will also be available live via YouTube. *Masks will be required inside

Suggested Donation: $30 per person, $50 per couple. 

For more information email Margaret@Designed2Connect.org

Heart Cry of Every Child & Teen

Parents care deeply about the hearts of their children, yet this frenzied world makes it difficult to stay tuned in and connected. In this seminar, parents, educators, or caregivers will gain a deeper understanding of why connecting with our kids’ hearts matters so much. Parents will be invited to let go of guilt and replace it with both a posture of curiosity and compassion. We'll discuss a handful of practical strategies to help deepen connection and support our children's emotional, spiritual, and psychological wellbeing.

Facilitator: Jackie E. Perry, PhD, LCMHCS, ACS, NCC

Suggested donation: $25.00

We will meet via Zoom on March 20th from 9:30 - 11:00am.

 

Heart Cry Seminar Outline:

  1. The heart must remain central

  2. The importance of attachment and attunement

  3. Basic building blocks of healthy connection/attachment

  4. The core desires of the heart

  5. Responding to desires and dysregulation (anxiety, anger, fear) in the age of COVID

  6. Fostering repair when ruptures occur between you and your child

  7. Q&A Session