“If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.” – Nelson Mandela

MY APPROACH TO COUNSELING

Your role is to speak. My role is to listen and learn the language that is particular to you and your story.

I have an attachment-based approach that begins with providing a safe place for your to tell your story. We will have genuine conversations, working together to identify what in your life has been getting in the way of real thriving, and what it might take to unleash a greater sense of beauty, discovery, and well-being.

As this exploration unfolds, our “reading” of your past and present will become fertile ground for you to choose how to step into the chapter that you are about to write.

At their best, these conversations are themselves a time of discovery, full of surprise for both me and my clients. That’s why I love what I do. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach. There is the dance of discovering how to engage “now” in a way that brings vibrancy and aliveness.

SPECIALTIES

I have particular clinical training and experience in the realm of sexuality. (Working with a broad range of sexual health matters, including: shame & desire struggles; sexual dysfunction; gender identity; out of control sexual behavior; etc.) Most of my work has been with clients who have experienced sexual abuse or some other form of sexual harm.

Issues related to sexuality may or may not be the focus of treatment. I have also worked with clients dealing with a variety of other issues: trauma and abuse of all types; spiritual abuse; anxiety; depression; relational issues; eating disorders; grief; anger; addiction; etc.

I am also interested in spiritual and existential matters. (I’ve studied philosophy and theology, and even worked as a therapist at a church for a number of years.) As a human, I believe thriving is about not just being symptom-free, but living a life that is deeply meaningful. I allow my clients to choose whether they want to use therapy to engage questions of meaning. As a therapist, it is not my role to provide “answers” per se, but to provide a space where the deepest Questions could be engaged by those who wish to do so.

YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO IT ALONE

My own journey has been deeply impacted by the work of Ransomed Heart Ministries. I have also trained under Dan Allender and am a recipient of the Advanced Counseling Certificate from The Allender Center. I am a participant in the 2019-2020 cohort of the University of Michigan Sexual Health Certificate program with a focus in Sex Therapy and Sexuality Education.

I consider it a great honor to walk alongside others in their search for healing, joy, and aliveness.

I have fought through my own share of deep suffering in my life. I’ve personally received care from several fantastic counselors. (Along the way I also stumbled into the offices of a few mediocre counselors, and one really bad one.) And I’ve wrestled personally with whether and when to turn to medication to help me get to a place of greater thriving.

All that to say, I have often known what it is like to find that my aliveness has taken a back seat to just surviving in a painful, dangerous, and busy world. But I have also known what it is to receive kindness, and to find LIFE reawakening inside of me. So I love to provide others with a taste of kindness: the experience of being seen, welcomed, and even a little disrupted, in a way that opens one up to goodness.