My own journey has been filled with challenges related to addiction, trauma, grief and loss, mental illness, and chronic health issues.  I get it. Life can be hard. Really hard. And there are times when I have felt like I wouldn’t get through. Starting at a very young age, I began to encounter people in the helping professions.  The tools I have learned (and continue to learn) and the space I have been given to share my experience and do deeper work with that content, has shaped my path in ways that have enabled me to live a more authentic life. I bring that authenticity forward in a real, no bullshit way.

I have been working in the field since 2005 with various populations.  I completed a Bachelors in Social Work at George Mason University in 2007. I took a year at that time to complete a Masters in Vedic Science at the Maharishi University of Management, which set my course in a different direction.  After gaining deeper knowledge of healing from mental health issues while including a spiritual perspective (and how various spiritual experiences can look very much like mental illness), I sought out programs that had a transpersonal focus. In my search, I found Southwestern College in Santa Fe, NM and went on to complete a Masters in Counseling in 2012. At Southwestern I was also exposed to earth based/indigenous frameworks for healing which has also shaped my perspective and approach.  I completed trainings in Integrative Somatic Psychotherapy and EMDR – both body based therapies. My experience has shown me that health must be approached holistically – including a mind, body and spirit. I have seen that mental health issues can be rooted in diet, or that physical challenges are rooted in anxiety.  I approach each individual with curiosity and the willingness to collaborate for their wellness.

 Since 2012 I have primarily worked with people in recovery.  This focus has gone hand and hand with serving individuals who have a history of trauma and chronic physical and mental health challenges.  So many elements intertwined within these  – grief and loss, anxiety and depression, relational issues/co-dependence, low self esteem, and more.  I have worked significantly with women during pregnancy and postpartum periods of life and am excited to support folks who are in this transitional phase of life into early parenting. I specialize in working with individuals who were assigned female at birth and am passionate about addressing issues of systemic oppression and its effects on the physical, emotional and spiritual elements of our lived experience. I am consciously doing my own work around identifying how privilege and oppression exist in the world, in my personal life, and how I can show up in the movement that is actively interrupting the system to dismantle it. It is my priority to be culturally aware and provide a safe space for women of all racial and ethnic backgrounds to engage their personal work.