Licensed to practice in 2 states and accepts 9 insurances. Specializes in Anxiety, Chronic Illness, Coping Skills and 7 more.
(she/her)
New to Grow
Hello! I am a licensed social worker (LICSW) who has been working at Seattle Children's Hospital for 10 years, helping patients and their families navigate chronic medical conditions. Because of my role at the hospital, I am also a Certified Clinical Transplant Social Worker (CCTSW), meaning I have expertise in organ transplant. I am from the east coast originally but spent most of my life in the midwest and completed undergrad at Michigan State University before moving to Washington DC to complete Americorps service. During Americorps, I worked in development at a nonprofit that served unhoused youth. I quickly became interested in obtaining my Masters in Social Work so as to work directly with people instead of behind the scenes. I attended graduate school at the Catholic University of America and graduated in 2015 with my Masters in Social Work (MSW). Despite the name of my school, the social work program was secular. After receiving my MSW, my husband and I moved to Seattle to start new adventures! While working in the hospital setting, I realized that the moments that bring the most fulfillment are the ones where I am engaged 1:1 and providing individuals with support, therapeutic intervention, encouragement, and coaching. I decided to open a therapy practice to allow me to provide this support outside the hospital. To this end, I completed a year-long therapist training program in Expressive Arts Therapy at the Northwest Creative & Expressive Arts Institute. I am working towards becoming a Registered Expressive Arts Therapist (REAT). In my free time, I love being outdoors with my family, going on adventures with my nieces, thrift-store wandering, having soul-enriching conversations with friends, and finding opportunities to dance.
I love getting to know new people! Our first session will include my spiel for new clients (framework for our practice together), allow time for questions, and then time for me to get to know you. Social workers and therapists may call this an "intake" or "bio-psycho-social" assessment - I essentially hope to start learning about you, your goals for therapy, what makes you "you," and last but not least - what brings you joy.
The people I work with describe my approach as warm, authentic, approachable, and supportive. I love to find moments for humor and laughter in session. I look forward to sharing joy with my clients over positive changes, no matter how small. Working in the hospital setting with teens and caregivers for 10 years gave me a unique perspective on chronic healthcare journeys and how they affect whole family systems, not just the patients. I have experience helping people cope with chronic and acute stressors, whether in the hospital setting or not. I also bring an Expressive Arts approach to my therapy practice and can offer as much or as little direction in this area as a client prefers. If you are interested in practicing expressive arts, we might engage in art practice during session or I'm happy to give art "homework" between sessions. Expressive arts includes poetry, writing, drawing, movement, verbal expressions, dance, drama, etc. the list goes on!!
The client that will thrive with me is someone interested in self-exploration and processing through expressive arts. Expressive arts utilizes multiple modalities (i.e. movement, drawing, poetry, writing, etc.) to help participants develop deeper understandings of their presenting problems. I have seen from personal experience how expressive arts can aide in the development of new coping skills, insights, and resilience in the face of seemingly inoperable challenges. Expressive arts combined with talk therapy is for those that feel stuck and wish to try something new to find paths forward.
Other specialties
I identify as
Eclectic
My primary focus of study has been in Expressive Arts Therapy but I round out that practice with motivational interviewing, practical coaching, and a strengths-based perspective. I am a current hospital-based social worker and have supported parents and caregivers of babies, children, teens, and young adults with complex and/or chronic health conditions.