Welcome. You’ve taken an important step toward healing and hope in researching counseling services. In our work together, I will consider you as a whole person, providing education, helping you build skills, and processing your concerns to increase your resiliency and overall well-being. My goal is to help you experience greater self-awareness, confidence, and peace. I will use evidence-based interventions including, person-centered therapy, cognitive behavior therapy, dialectic behavior therapy, and motivational interviewing to help you live consistent with what you value most. 

Early in my career, I worked with individuals experiencing homelessness and/or substance use disorders; in my work as a case manager, I learned that everyone has value and deserves happiness and health equity. I later worked in a wilderness challenge school for teen girls; I enjoyed working with girls and women in the outdoors, by the fire, and in yurts in the mountains of West Virginia. I served as the therapist in the school house and accompanied students to their wilderness village experiences. That work deepened my understanding of expectations and pressures that girls and women face in families, intimate relationships, in educational settings, and in their professions. In private practice, I worked with a diverse population treating depression, anxiety, bipolar disorders, PTSD, addiction, crises, and relationship problems. While there, I developed specialized interest and experience helping adults process their abuse-related trauma, cope with chronic illness/pain, and process grief. 

More recently, I’ve served as a therapist in a community mental health program for adults, both with and without, substance use disorders. I’ve also served teens, children, and families. This work has helped me understand how lack of access to mental health services can affect individuals and families in rural communities. 

Early in our relationship, I will take the time to listen to you and hear what you’ve been through. I’ll ask you about your preferences and goals for therapy. I welcome your suggestions for ways I can make your therapeutic experience more meaningful. I enjoy reading a variety of professional and recreational reading, so I welcome your recommendations. If you are a spiritual person or person of faith, I will converse with you from that perspective, at your request. I look forward to working with you in your healing journey.