New to Grow
I'm a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist specializing in trauma, burnout, and moral injury. With nearly a decade of crisis intervention experience and advanced training in Brainspotting, somatic modalities, and depth psychology, I work with first responders, healthcare providers, therapists, activists, and LGBTQIA+ individuals who are ready to stop just managing and start actually healing. A lot of my clients come in high-functioning on the outside and quietly exhausted on the inside. They've been the ones others lean on. They've made hard calls, held hard things, and kept moving because stopping wasn't an option. What brought them to therapy isn't weakness, it's the accumulated weight of doing hard work in a world that doesn't always make space for the cost of it. My work is to help people who've carried a lot make sense of what that's actually cost them, and reclaim who they are beyond their role, and that looks different for everyone. For some, it's processing specific events or experiences, and for others, it's untangling an identity that got fused with a job title, a caretaking role, or a set of values that the world kept violating. Whatever the shape of it, we work at a pace that respects both the urgency you feel and the time real healing actually takes.
In our first session together, here's what you can expect
Our first session is a conversation, not an intake form with a pulse. I want to understand what brought you in, what you've already tried, and what you're hoping life looks like on the other side of this. There's no pressure to have it all figured out. We're just getting oriented together. I'll ask questions, and I'll also leave space for you to ask yours. You're not just evaluating whether therapy is right for you, you're evaluating whether I'm the right fit, and that matters. Some people come in knowing exactly what they want to work on, while others have a feeling they can't quite name yet. Both are fine starting points. By the end of our first session, my goal is for you to leave with a clearer sense of where we're headed and what working together might look like. Not a diagnosis, not a homework assignment. Just a beginning.
The biggest strengths that I bring into our sessions
I meet people where they are without requiring them to shrink or perform. That's not just a philosophy, it's something I've had to develop deliberately, because the clients I work with most often are people who are very good at presenting well. High-achieving, highly capable, used to being the competent one in the room. They don't always get the benefit of someone slowing down and asking what's actually going on underneath. I bring specialized training in trauma, depth psychology, and somatic approaches, but what matters most to me is that you feel genuinely understood rather than assessed. I'm particularly skilled at working with people who are skeptical of therapy, who've tried it before and found it surface-level, or who are carrying the kind of pain that doesn't show up on a checklist. I'm also not a blank screen. I bring my own perspective, and I'll share it when it's useful. I'll be honest with you about what I'm noticing, what I'm curious about, and when something you said is worth sitting with longer. You won't have to always wonder what I'm thinking.
The clients I'm best positioned to serve
My dream client isn't defined by a diagnosis or a demographic. They're defined by a particular kind of readiness. They've probably been the strong one for a long time. The first responder who holds it together on scene and then drives home in silence. The healthcare provider who gives compassionate care all day and has nothing left for themselves by evening. The therapist who can name what's happening to them clinically and still can't seem to get out from under it. The activist who's been fighting for everyone else and is starting to wonder what happened to their own sense of self. The person who's LGBTQIA+ and has spent years navigating a world that required them to justify their existence before they could even begin to figure out who they actually are. What they have in common is this: they're smart, self-aware, and tired. They've often already tried to think their way out of what they're carrying. They may have done some therapy before and found it didn't go deep enough. They want to actually understand what happened to them, why it still has weight, and how to put it down without losing the parts of themselves they've fought to build. My dream client is willing to go there. They don't have to be unafraid. They just have to be done pretending it's fine. They're also a little skeptical. Of therapy, of me, of the whole process. Skepticism usually means someone is paying attention, and I'd rather work with someone who pushes back than someone who performs progress. If you've been carrying something heavy for a long time and you're starting to wonder if it's supposed to feel this hard, you're probably who I do my best work with.
Attachment-based
Attachment theory serves as the foundational lens through which I understand and approach all clinical work. I view the therapeutic relationship itself as a corrective attachment experience, particularly for clients whose occupational roles, trauma histories, or cultural contexts have conditioned them to suppress vulnerability and distrust support. For first responders, veterans, and others shaped by high-stakes relational environments, attachment patterns often show up in specific, recognizable ways, and naming them within a safe therapeutic relationship can be profoundly orienting.
Brainspotting
I've been a certified Brainspotting practitioner since 2022 and use it as a primary trauma processing modality, particularly with clients for whom traditional talk therapy hits a ceiling. Brainspotting works directly with the subcortical brain where trauma is stored, making it especially effective for first responders, veterans, and healthcare providers carrying occupational trauma and moral injury that's hard to reach through words alone. It's also a strong fit for clients who are analytically oriented but find themselves stuck despite good insight.
Jungian
I completed formal Jungian training through Pacifica Graduate Institute, and depth psychology is woven throughout how I understand and work with clients. Rather than treating symptoms as problems to eliminate, I approach them as meaningful communications from the psyche worth exploring. This is particularly resonant for first responders and veterans navigating moral injury, identity disruption, and the shadow material that accumulates in high-stakes service work. Depending on the client, this can involve dream work, active imagination, or simply holding space for the parts of a person's experience that don't fit neatly into their professional identity.
Trauma-Focused CBT
I draw on Trauma-Focused CBT as an integrated framework rather than a rigid protocol, weaving cognitive and behavioral techniques into broader trauma treatment as clinically appropriate. This allows me to offer structured, evidence-based interventions for clients who benefit from psychoeducation, cognitive restructuring, and skill-building while still honoring the relational and somatic dimensions of trauma recovery. It translates particularly well for first responders and veterans who tend to appreciate a direct, skills-oriented approach alongside deeper processing work.