“I've always been curious about stories.”

Starting as an avid reader during childhood to becoming a photographer capturing significant life moments, I’ve always loved stories. So it seemed inevitable that I would be drawn to helping others understand their own stories.

I received my Master's of Counseling from The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology in 2004. Through this program I learned about Relational Psychotherapy, which emphasizes the transforming dynamic that occurs in the therapist-client relationship. More recently, I completed another master's degree in social work in order to fulfill current Michigan licensure requirements. This program deepened my understanding of community development, advocacy for equity and justice, along with trauma-informed therapy. During this program I had the opportunity to work with a refugee resettlement program and Spectrum Health Hospice. After investing more than 20 years in leadership and mental health development at universities, churches and non-profits, I am excited to focus on full-time counseling.

Education and trainings

• EMDR-The Maiberger Institute

• Practice-Focused Training in Prolonged Grief Therapy-The Center for Prolonged Grief Columbia University School of Social Work

• Complex Trauma-The Complex Trauma Training Institute

“I want to change the conversation about grief.”

I have witnessed the healing and transformation that therapy can offer both through my own personal process and professional work. After I experienced a significant loss in my life, counseling was pivotal in tending to my own grief. As I met with others navigating grief and led support groups, I realized that there is a harmful understanding of grief. It was hindering people from navigating their distress towards healthy integration and wholeness. I have become passionate about changing the conversation about grief, inviting others to not feel bound by a linear journey nor believing it is something to "fix". I have completed several trainings on the nuanced grief experience, including traumatic loss, ambigious grief and non-death losses, and modern grief theories.

Along with specializing in loss and grief, I have offered counseling and psychoeducation for anxiety, compassion fatigue and burnout, spiritual issues, and personal identity development. In addition to a relational psychodynamic approach, I utilize mindfulness, narrative and attachment theories to inform my work.