Liz Margolies, LCSW
Liz Margolies, LCSW, is a New York City–based psychotherapist, writer, and researcher whose work focuses on the psychological and social experiences of mothers whose sons are incarcerated. Following the arrest of her own son, she sought guidance in the professional literature and found strikingly little attention to this population.
She began conducting her own independent qualitative research with mothers across the United States, examining themes of shame, identity disruption, attachment, and maternal responsibility in the context of criminal justice involvement.
Liz has published multiple articles in criminal justice and reform-focused publications and has become a leading voice on the underexamined role of mothers in systems of incarceration.
She is the founder of He’s Still My Son, a platform dedicated to preserving mothers’ stories, reducing stigma, and providing practical and psychological resources to families. In addition to her clinical practice, she facilitates multiple online support groups for mothers, creating spaces for reflection, accountability, and healing.
My role at the Hinda Institute
My primary role at Hinda is offering my clinical expertise as a psychotherapist, and my lived experience as the mother of an incarcerated son. I facilitate the CARES group for families, supervise social work students, and contribute my two cents whenever Abby reaches out to me. I have incorporated what I have learned at Hinda into professional writing on mothers and the development of a website, He’s Still My Son, which highlights personal essays, provides resources and is a portal to support groups for mothers.
Fresh Start Story
Before Valentine’s Day 2019, I liked to say I was the toughest 120-pound person you’d ever meet. But the day my son was arrested, that illusion shattered. I wasn’t tough as nails. I was Humpty Dumpty—fragile, exposed—and I broke like an egg dropped on concrete. And all the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put me back together again.
It turns out I didn’t need horses or men. I needed other mothers. The support I received—and gave—at the Hinda Institute, especially while leading one of the Cares Groups, slowly began to mend me. Am I the same as I was before my son’s arrest? No. Life with an incarcerated son is heartbreaking and tough. It has taught me more about helplessness than I ever wanted to know.
But I am not broken anymore. I am glued back together like that Japanese method called kintsugi, which honors the cracks and seams in repaired pottery as evidence of a life lived, proudly marked by survival. I am who I am now—stronger than an egg, with the love and help of Hinda.