The American Health Council has welcomed Dr. LeslieBeth Wish, Ed.D., as “Best in Medicine” in recognition of her outstanding dedication in the field of Psychology.
Dr. LeslieBeth Wish was raised by Daisy from the age of three – a woman who gave her love and wisdom and taught her to trust her own intuition. Daisy encouraged LeslieBeth to ‘act with beauty’, and taught her to find joy, ask questions, work hard and be brave to be her best version, not only in her actions, but in her heart and mind too. It was Daisy who helped her to discover that she had a real ability to care for others, read them and help them with any issues they were facing.
Everything that Daisy had taught her, followed Dr. Wish to college and graduate school. She was drawn to people’s difficulties in acting with beauty, as well as their reactions to life events. In 1970, she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in both history and english from Carnehie Mellon University. The following year, she achieved a Master of Arts in English from Ohio University, and then in 1976 earned a second Masters of Arts from Bryn Mawr College in social work and management.
Then, for around a year, she lived, studied and taught in Moscow before coming back to the United States to achieve a Doctoral Degree in developmental psychology from the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. Dr. Wish then completed three years of post-degree training in multigenerational family theory and therapy with Dr. Murray Bown at Georgetown University’s Family Center.
In 1980, Dr. Wish started her career at the Linwood School as the Director of Social Work and Families. Then, from 1981 until 1994, she joined the New England Institute of Family Relations, where she helped to raise awareness of sexual concerns at home and work, and expanded sex education.
In 1994, she became Vice President of Gulfcoast Healthstyle, after retiring from clinical social work and psychotherapy. Two years later in 1996, she earned a Doctor of Education from the University of Massachusetts in developmental psychology. Throughout her illustrious career, she spent three years from 2001 until 2004 at Webster University in Florida, as faculty and student admissions academic advisor with the business and counseling graduate programs, and from 2009 until 2015, was a board member of the Women’s Resource Center. Dr. Wish co-developed a free family counseling network for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation, and having learned early on about the importance of treating your body well, she was an aquatic fitness professional from 2005 until 2020, certified by the Aquatic Fitness Association.
Dr. Wish is the founder of Love Victory, an organization that offers guidance and help for intimate relationships and other aspects of life. With the aim to empower clients to trust their intuition about their current situation, and get emotionally brave to make decisions around love, family, happiness, work and success, the Love Victory website provides a plethora of resources. Having accumulated decades of professional research and experience working with more than 12,000 people, Dr. Wish offers tried and tested practical advice that has worked for thousands of people she has counseled throughout her professional career.
Dr. Wish has published many works on the topic of love and relationships, having conducted an extensive amount of research on the role that intuition plays in a person choosing their intimate partner. Earlier works include, “Smart Relationships: How Successful Women Can Find True Love,” “The Love Adventures of Almost Smart Cookie,” “Training Your Love Intuition for Wise Relationship Choices” and “Training Your Love Intuition for Widowhood or Partner Loss”. More recently in 2019, she published “Training Your Love Intuition”.
Furthermore, Dr. Wish is the author of “Incest, Women & Work”, which was published in 1998 and unpacks the connection between childhood sexual abuse and the impact it can have on work and careers. Over the years, she has shared her insights in magazines and on websites, and also gave a TEDx Talk called “You Can’t Always Trust Your Gut When it Comes to Dating, Mating and Relating”.
As a testament to her outstanding work, since 2011, the National Association of Social Workers has named Dr. Wish as one of “The Fifty” who has made significant contributions to the profession, and Marriage.com has named her one of the top therapists in Sarasota. Throughout her career she has received other accolades, such as being presented with a Women of Impact Award in 2012 by Focus on Women Magazine and receiving the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award by Marquis Who’s Who.
Dr. Wish attributes her success to her emotional bravery and patience, and her ability to deal with setbacks. As a caring wife, professional and stepmother, she believes the most rewarding part of her career is keeping in touch with the many people she has helped.
Dr. Wish recently retired and enjoys family time, physical fitness, energy, and the mind-body connection.
