My approach to therapy

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My role in your journey is to provide guidance, empower you, and challenge beliefs that may be holding you back. I encourage clients to explore adversity through different perspectives, cultivate resilience through daily life practices, and create a deeper connection to a sense of meaning and purpose in life. 

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Person-centered: There is no 'one size fits all' counseling treatment. Nobody shares the exact same lived experience and everyone has unique needs. Counseling should be flexible and adaptive. It is a collaboration between the client and the counselor. I will walk beside you every step of the way, but ultimately this is your journey and it should fit your needs. 

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Trauma-informed: I strive to create a safe, welcoming, nonjudgmental therapeutic environment. There are many paths to healing and there are ways to approach trauma that do not involve re-living past experiences. Together, we can pick a pace that works for you and find ways to identify and recover from the impact of trauma. 

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Existential: Sometimes in life things occur that cause us to lose touch with ourselves or those aspects of life that provide a sense of purpose and meaning. By reconnecting to our sense of selves and our values, we can begin to develop a vision of a meaningful life, identify our strengths, and recognize our potential.

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REBT and Narrative Therapies: In counseling, the process of healing wounds and reconnecting with a meaningful life involves re-establishing and sometimes re-defining our sense of self, as well as adapting to a “new normal” that often requires changes in our perspectives and behaviors. This includes understanding our personal Narratives, the stories we tell ourselves help us to identify, and sometimes replace negative core beliefs and maladaptive thought patterns that may be at the root of our distress. 

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Active: Healing is a holistic process. When your mind experiences something, so does your body. My style of counseling incorporates supportive modalities including yoga, meditation, somatic processing, and other active therapies that help to integrate the mind-body experience so healing happens on every level. 

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Creative: Healing is also about balance. Therapy can be heavy stuff and sometimes we need to reconnect to the playful and fun side of life. Play is also a great way to explore our identities and discover our likes and dislikes. I invite and encourage clients to incorporate music, comedy, art, games, writing, RPG, and other media into the counseling process. 

 

Professional Memberships & Affiliations

• Nationally Certified Counselor through the National Board for Certified Counselor (NCC)

• Emergency Responder & Public Safety Certified Clinician

• Therapeutic Yoga Instructor (300hr)

• Certified Animal Assisted Intervention Specialist (C-AAIS)

• Member- American Counseling Association

• Member- Public Safety Peer Support Association 

• Registered Clinician- Center for Firefighter Behavioral Health

• Registered Clinician- STAR Behavioral Health (Trained Provider- Military Focused Care)

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Credentials & Experience

• Master of Science in Clinical Counseling (MSC)

• Independently Licensed with the Arizona Board of Behavioral Health​  and the Idaho Licensing Board of Professional Counselors (AZ License: LPC-18822; ID License: LCPC-8750)

• 10+ years of experience in the field of Behavioral Health, including Clinical Counseling, Crisis Intervention with Mesa & Chandler Fire and Medical Departments, CISM/Peer support, and Psychiatric Assessment in Hospitals and Emergency Departments.