Alum Helen Grieco Overcomes Troubled Youth to Teach Fight Violence

PETALUMA ARGUS-COURIER -- Helen Grieco witnessed violence in her family for years, but it took violence against her personally to galvanize her into changing her life and the lives of others for the better. Grieco witnessed her father beat her mother at least once a week for seven years. It ended when her mother finally found the courage to gather Grieco and her three siblings and head 300 miles away, where they found refuge in a tumble-down shack without electricity or running water when Grieco was 12. In college, Grieco discovered what she endured as a child had a name, domestic violence, and that it happened in far more families than she had imagined. “My college degree, therapy, my involvement in alternative health methods, supportive people and my training all contributed to my total recovery,” Grieco said. Education: Master of Arts in clinical psychology from Antioch College, Bachelor of Arts in Women’s Studies from San Francisco State University.