She was a temp at the World Trade Center on 9/11. Now, this Denton County counselor has written a memoir

On the 25th anniversary of 9/11, this survivor will share her story.

Sophia Thomas, a licensed professional counselor based in Denton County, will launch her memoir, 92 Reasons: A Journey of Faith, this Friday. In the book, Thomas not only shares the story of how she escaped from the 92nd floor of the South Tower when the World Trade Center was attacked, but also her journey of self-discovery and healing.

The book launch will be at Cafe Mila, which is owned by her family, in The Colony on Friday at 7:30 p.m.

"It's about my story," Thomas said. "[It's about] trying to figure out who Sophia is before Sophia even got into that building."

Thomas was 18 years old when she began working at Aon, an insurance brokerage, which operated out of the second building of the World Trade Center.

Born and raised in Trinidad and Tobago, Thomas said she came to the U.S. in 1995 with her family after her parents won the "green card lotto." They originally settled in Florida, then moved to New York in the summer of 2000.

Thomas said that while her family was in New York, she ran away from home. She went back to Florida but returned to her family after realizing she was pregnant. She said her mother helped her get a job working with Aon at the World Trade Center through a temp agency.

"I remember going there when I was really young in 1993, and seeing it and thinking, 'I have to be in that building,'" Thomas said.

The morning of Sept. 11, 2001, she heard people screaming while she was taking the elevator to the 92nd floor.

"Somebody started screaming, 'We're going to die,'" Thomas said. "And then it became a chorus of, 'We're going to die.'"

She was six and a half months pregnant at the time.

"I said, 'You know what, God's going to let me see my unborn child,'" Thomas recalled.

She got into a stairwell along with some co-workers to get out of the building. She doesn't remember what happened between floors 72 and 3.

"Most of the time I was in the stairwell," she said. "So, most of the explosions and everything else, I didn't see. I saw a disaster, but I wasn't around it the entire time, if that makes sense."

Thomas explained that people who go through traumatic experiences often do not consciously remember all of the details because that is what their brain needs to do to survive.

"It's like my little survival brain had this little bubble, and this was the bubble that I needed to survive in and not think about more people who potentially died," she said.

After making it out of the tower, she found both of her parents. By the end of the day, her three sisters had also made it home.

"The family was already kind of torn apart," Thomas said. "That was like the first time that my two middle sisters really just hugged me since before I even left [and] my baby sister clung to me the minute I came back. The whole family felt like one for the first time that night."

After having her baby, she sought therapy to help her process what she had experienced. She said she was disappointed to find that counselors either did not take her seriously or would gawk at her 9/11 experience, saying things like, "I can't believe you were there."

"Going to counseling, it just felt like people just wanted a part of me, but they didn't know how to help me," Thomas said. "Counselors not being able to help me is what inspired me to go and learn what they were supposed to learn."

Thomas' family moved to Texas in 2003. She earned her master's degree in counseling at UT Southwestern Medical Center.

Thomas said that even upon finishing her degree, she had no intention of becoming a counselor.

"It wasn't me going to help anybody," she said. "It was me trying to figure out how to help myself."

However, when she saw that the address where her fellow students were sending their applications for counselor licenses had a repeating 3 in it, she said that felt like a sign.

"I'd been … seeing the number 333 in my dreams," Thomas said. "So, I'm like, 'Fine, just give me one of those darn papers,' and filled it out fast. And I am so grateful because I wouldn't trade what I do for anything else in the world."

She went on to start her own practice, 92 Reasons Counseling.

While working as a counselor, she noticed that some clients who needed her services would stop going to counseling because of copays. She also said she's familiar with the burnout many mental health professionals experience.

Because of these two things, she was inspired to start a nonprofit called Against the Odds I Am. She said she is still developing the organization but intends to help clients access affordable mental health care and provide training and resources to mental health professionals.

"If your counselor is struggling to feed herself and to pay her bills, do you think she can really help you?" Thomas said. "The reward is stability, not just for the client, but stability for the counselor."

Thomas said she has enjoyed writing throughout her life and has multiple books she wants to write. However, she felt she needed to share her experience during 9/11 first, even though it was difficult to write about.

"Just because you survive something doesn't mean that you're not a victim," she said. "The only way to even become a survivor is to first be a victim."

92 Reasons: A Journey of Faith is available for purchase online.

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