LPC, 20 years of experience
New to Grow
I am a Licensed Professional Counselor. For more than twenty years, I’ve worked with adults, teens, and families facing trauma, anxiety, depression, and relationship struggles. My main orientation is Internal Family Systems (IFS), which I use to help people understand and heal the protective and wounded parts of themselves. I also integrate attachment-based and emotionally focused approaches to strengthen how clients relate to themselves and to the people who matter most. I come to this work as both a professional and a person who’s lived through many of the challenges my clients face. I’m a parent who knows the daily strain of trying to be present for your family when you’re already running on empty. I’m a trauma survivor who understands what it’s like to rebuild trust in yourself after being hurt. I’ve dealt with painful medical conditions that have tested my patience, resilience, and faith in the system. I’m a husband in an interracial marriage, which continually deepens my understanding of identity, perspective, and what it means to hold space for difference with love and respect. And I’ve been both a therapist and a client, so I know how vulnerable it can feel to sit in that chair and hope the person across from you really gets it. Because of those experiences, very little shocks me and nothing makes me see you as “less than.” I don’t view trauma, pain, or mistakes as signs of weakness — they’re evidence of survival. My job is to meet you there with honesty, compassion, and respect, and help you find your way forward at a pace that’s right for you.
During our first meeting, we’ll cover the basics — informed consent, confidentiality, and an overview of how therapy works. I’ll spend some time getting to know what’s happening in your life and what you hope to get out of the process. It’s part assessment, part conversation, and part collaboration. While the focus is definitely on you, it’s not a one-sided interview — it’s a two-way conversation. We’re beginning to build a relationship, and that means there has to be some back and forth. I’ll share things about the process, answer your questions honestly, and make sure what we’re doing actually feels like a fit for you. Before the session ends, we’ll start developing a treatment plan together. Without a clear sense of direction, therapy can easily become endless talk that doesn’t lead anywhere. Having goals gives us something meaningful to aim for — a vision of where you’d like your life to go and how we’ll know when we’re getting there. I take the work seriously, but I also believe a little laughter goes a long way in making hard conversations feel more human. The goal of the first session is simple: to begin building safety, trust, and a shared understanding of what healing could look like for you.
One of my biggest strengths as a therapist is that I take ethics seriously — not as a formality, but as the foundation of how I work. Doing right by people matters deeply to me. My clients trust that I’ll be honest with them, transparent about the process, and careful with their stories. They know I’ll tell them the truth, even when it’s uncomfortable, and that I’ll never use their vulnerability against them. I also believe therapy should be more than conversation. I use real, evidence-based methods and interventions that come directly from the models I practice. When we work together, I’ll explain anything you want to know about what we’re doing and why, so the process feels intentional rather than abstract. My goal isn’t to create mystery — it’s to make sure our work has structure, direction, and purpose. Whether we’re exploring a difficult memory, mapping out patterns, or developing new coping skills, the focus is always on helping you function more effectively in daily life and move toward a version of yourself that feels capable, grounded, and present. At the same time, I keep things human. I use humor often — not to minimize pain, but to make space for relief, connection, and perspective when things feel heavy. It helps people relax enough to be real, to breathe, and to see that therapy doesn’t have to be stiff or clinical. And perhaps most importantly, I don’t see you as broken, crazy, or defective. I see someone who’s survived things that would challenge anyone. I’m not here to “fix” you — I’m here to help you reconnect with the parts of yourself that already know how to get better.
You’re not broken — you’re carrying pain that’s never been given a real chance to heal. Some days you wake up already tired, wondering why even small things feel so heavy. You might feel like you’re constantly bracing for something to go wrong, even when things are technically “fine.” Other days, you just go numb. You can go through the motions — work, parenting (whoever said parenting was easy must’ve been talking about cuddly puppies), relationships — and yet still feel disconnected from yourself and the people around you. Maybe you’ve learned to stay strong for everyone else. Maybe you’ve been told to “move on,” to “forgive,” to “let it go,” but inside it’s like the past never really left. Parts of you might be angry, others ashamed, others just… done. You may not even be able to explain why you react the way you do — why you shut down, explode, pull away, or suddenly feel like a scared kid again. You’ve probably tried to figure it out on your own. You’ve read the books, watched the videos, maybe even done therapy before — but somehow, the same patterns keep looping back. It can feel like there’s an invisible wall between you and the life you want to live. If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. These experiences don’t mean you’re weak, damaged, or “crazy” — they mean your system has been trying to protect you the only way it knows how. And honestly, just making it as far as you have is amazing. Maybe your story includes growing up in a home where emotions weren’t safe — where silence, anger, or control ruled the room. Maybe you learned early on that love had strings attached, or that speaking up led to punishment or rejection. Your pain might come from relationships that looked fine on the surface but quietly drained the life out of you over time. Even now, you might catch yourself scanning every conversation for signs of danger, over-explaining so no one gets mad, apologizing for things that aren’t your fault, or avoiding closeness because it feels safer to stay unseen. Somewhere inside, though, there’s still a part of you that hasn’t given up — the part that remembers what it’s like to laugh without fear, to rest without guilt, to trust that you don’t have to earn love or safety. That part might be quiet, but it’s still there, waiting for space to breathe. Healing isn’t about erasing your past; it’s about finding new ways to live DESPITE what you experienced, to move through it, and to finally stop fighting yourself. When you’re ready, thera
I have over 20 years of experience providing therapy, with a primary focus on trauma and the complex relational patterns that often develop around it. My approach is centered on Internal Family Systems (IFS), which I use to help clients understand and heal the different “parts” of themselves that carry pain, protection, or unmet needs. I’m trained in IFS and actively use it in session—not just as a label, but as a framework for deep, compassionate inner work. While IFS provides the foundation of my practice, I also integrate concepts from Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) and other attachment-based and trauma-informed models. My work is highly relational and collaborative: together, we explore how past experiences shape current emotional patterns and relationships, and how to restore connection, safety, and self-leadership from the inside out.