One of my favorite things to do is eat a meal with people I love. Or share a cup of coffee. Or get ice cream. Really, it doesn’t matter what we eat or drink, what matters most is the feeling of nourishment. Feeding your soul through connection with another person. I have long known that healing happens in relationship. That the times we humans are most alive are when we are able to connect, be seen, be raw and vulnerable and honest and still be welcomed in.

I am a daughter, a sister, a mother, a partner, a friend, a counselor. In each of these roles, I have seen the power of cultivating growth-fostering relationships to support mutual well-being. When we can be real with one another - the world can change!

It was this healing power of relationship that first drove me to graduate school to become a chaplain where I specialized in pediatric trauma. (Yep, deep stuff.) I loved it and I knew then that I was made to do intense, yet tender, work. I loved offering the tiniest spark of hope that even in the scariest and darkest moments, we don’t walk alone. My experiences in the hospital helped me realize I wanted to work more deeply alongside people so I pursued a Masters of Arts in Mental Health Counseling and haven’t looked back.

Working as a chaplain and now as a counselor, I have had the sacred privilege of holding the stories of others. Our stories, the way we make sense and meaning of our lives, are our most treasured parts of ourselves and yet we don’t often feel we can own them much less share our authentic selves with others. Often, we’ve been hurt, rejected, or ignored and to support and protect ourselves we find ways to disengage - to put those treasured parts of ourselves and our stories away to protect them and keep our very being safe. But here is the paradox: the very thing we need the most to heal, is the thing we tend to run from.

I have seen this play out in so many ways and it has led me to specialize first in treating trauma (specifically the complex kind that worsens 0ver-time). By chance, I fell in love with eating disorder treatment which became my focus for several years. And throughout my own journey to become a mother, I became invested in perinatal mental health: the pre-pregnancy, pregnancy and post-partum time in life with all of it’s ups and downs. And what strikes me about each of these are the ways that, not only are relationships with others disrupted, oftentimes we disrupt our relationship with our own body to cope with the distress.

This is where I love to settle in and support you as you reauthor your story, reconnect with others and yourself, and reclaim hope, joy and nourishment in your life. As you decide what you want your life to look like, I am honored to fiercely and tenderly walk alongside you to help you deepen your connections and embrace your life in the most fulfilling and meaningful ways possible.