Everyone’s journey towards living a healthy, satisfying, and rewarding life looks different, and my approach to therapy is to support you in reaching your goals on your own terms. Because I don’t believe there is a “right” answer for healing from grief and trauma, feeling more positive or hopeful, less anxious, or improving relationships, I offer a variety of treatment approaches and together we adjust our approach to be the best fit for you. These approaches include EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), Narrative Therapy, CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy), DBT (Dialectical Behavioral Therapy), Person-Centered Therapy, Non-violent Communication, and Motivational Interviewing. Since our lives don’t exist in a vacuum, I also take a “systems” based approach of exploring and addressing factors affecting our well-being like jobs, housing, finances, relationships (friends, family, romantic, work, etc), physical health, hobbies, etc.
While the approach we take does matter, even more important is that the therapeutic relationship feels safe, comfortable, and warm for you. I feel privileged to have worked and lived in many different situations in my life and connected with people from many walks of life. From over 20 years of leading wilderness trips around the country and the world with kids and adults from elementary school to retirement age and from low income families to CEO’s, being a live-in caretaker for adults with disabilities, teaching high school science, starting and running a restorative justice program for schools and the court system, being a youth mentor, and working as a farmer, carpenter, waiter, and human resources manager, I feel honored to support people pursuing their dreams and goals. I strongly affirm the needs and rights of all populations and strive towards cultural competency and humility when working with members of the LGBTQIA+ community, immigrants and their families, and all historically oppressed groups. I speak Spanish conversationally and can support multilingual families when appropriate.
I offer therapy services to individuals and family counseling for clients age 12+, and accept insurance from Medicaid, United, and Anthem, or self-pay with a sliding scale available. While I specialize in complex trauma and recovery, I work with many different life challenges, with additional study and experience with adults and teens with Autism and ADHD.