LCSW, 37 years of experience
I believe wholeheartedly that life is meant to be lived fully and joyfully. So many things can interfere with this including trauma, grief, broken relationships, and patterns that are self-destructive to name a few. In my work I deeply explore the fullness of your life and together we identify patterns that keep you from the life you truly want. In identifying those patterns, we also identify constructive changes and action in support of helping you create the life you truly want to live. The focus is always on growth in mind body and spirit.
In our first session, we will deeply explore your life story and the experiences that brought you to where you are today. Therapy is not a shallow experience, but rather a deep dive into understanding the places you got hurt, the patterns that it created in you, and a plan to create a life that is more filled with connection and satisfaction. All of that is based on first getting to know you on a deep and meaningful level. That becomes the foundation for all of our work to come.
I don’t believe that it is possible to teach lessons that you do not know yourself. I have worked deeply on my own growth, healing, and creation of a life that I love. My journey has made me deeply compassionate, insightful, and committed to kindness with honesty with complete truth. I look at therapy as a journey that we take together. Your sense of worth and value as an individual is of utmost importance to me. As humans, we grow best in an environment where we feel seen, known, and respected. I feel deeply committed to those values with every person I work with.
I work best with individuals who deeply desire to have a satisfying and growth filled life. No matter where your starting point is, or how far down the scale you feel, if you are willing to do the work and desire to understand the places where you get stuck, your journey will be rewarded with a much more fulfilling life.
So much of how we learn to be in relationships, function in the world, and relate to ourselves and others comes from the families that we were raised. Our sense of safety, trust, distrust and fear come from our early life experiences. Understanding those early experiences and messages helps us understand our patterns in relationships, attachments, and patterns that can cause loneliness, disconnection, and feelings of failure. Being aware of these patterns gives us a basis for change, healing, and creating the life and relationships that will bring us connection, belonging and joy.
Healing and recovery depends on experiencing ourselves, others , and life challenges in a new and healthy way. Change is an action. When we do things differently, our lives change. Therapy is a process of understanding the roots of our patterns and learning to respond to life in new and healthier ways. Awareness comes first, the then action comes next. It is the action that allows us to take our lives in a direction that is more connected to our true selves.
People do not care what you know, until they know that you care. Caring, confidentiality, and compassion must be the foundation to any successful counseling process. We all have a deep need to be seen, known, and understood. In addition, we do not heal from trauma, loss, and grief until our experiences are fully shared and received. Only then can the process of healing and restoration take place.
For believers in Christ, an intimate knowledge of Him and His Word forms our life views and moral compass. Counseling that embraces these values, combined with the toolbox that therapy can provide, brings about growth and healing that is consistent with deeply held beliefs.
For anyone who has experienced grief and loss, you know how profound and life altering those experiences are. Grief therapy focuses on both the honoring and meaning of a loss as well as charting a way back to living fully again. There is no doubt that grief changes us, but it does not need to destroy us. In many ways, it can cause a deepening of who we are emotionally and spiritually. The importance of grief therapy is to keep in movement throughout the process so as not to become stuck. There is life and joy after grief. The goals of grief therapy are healing, restoration, and beginning life again.