The Collective
Meet the members of our group
Learn a little of our story. . .
Nakpangi Thomas
Founder/Contributing Author
Gailyn Laird
Contributing Author
Urban Legin'd Obasaki
Site Admin/Contributing Author
About us. . .
Learn more about who we are and what we do. . .
Nakpangi Thomas
Dr. Nakpangi Thomas is a licensed professional counselor, clinical traumatologist, and adjunct professor at Southern New Hampshire University. She holds a doctoral degree in Counseling Education and Supervision from Walden University. Dr. Thomas has presented on various mental health issues from childhood adversity, human trafficking, tele-counseling, substance abuse, mindfulness, and more. She has held various leadership roles in the field of counseling and is an active member of the American Counseling Associate, Association for Humanistic Counseling, Counselors for Social Justice, and Chi Sigma Iota Honors Society. Dr. Thomas has also advocated for the counseling profession, human rights, women’s rights, fair housing, as well as poverty, and criminal justice reform. In her spare time, she volunteers for local community organizations and serves as a board for several local organizations.
Gailyn Laird
Ms. Gailyn Laird is a teacher of students with special needs in one of America’s toughest inner cities. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a master’s degree in Secondary Education. She is originally from Detroit, Michigan, but now resides in Maryland. Ms. Laird is the mother of two beautiful children; one biological daughter and a bonus son from a previous relationship. Ms. Laird is a deep-feeling empathetic individual, who has encountered a number of narcissistic people and has been in numerous narcissistic relationships. From her experience, she has been able to understand the characteristics of people with Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) and she considers herself a survivor of Narcissistic abuse.
Urban Legin'd Obasaki
Writer, co-author, and spoken word artist, Obasaki-san is an apprentice of prose. Having established himself as prominent voice on the open mic scene, he has gone on to compete in, place or win various competitions in the art of Performance Poetry. Currently he's a writer for hire, having co-written and co-starred in the amateur stage production of Trouble Don't Last: A Poetic Stage Play. He has also curated poetic events revolving around working on and building better relationships through Christ. He is an advocate against Narcissistic abuse, hoping to raise awareness of NPD with the novel Don't Believe Your Lying Eyes.