Counseling is a practice I both treasure and grow from. It is a unique and genuine relationship I have with my clients who bring their fears, frustrations, disappointments and sorrows into session as we work to heal the past and bring hope to the future. I love seeing a client's strengths, discovering new areas of growth, and watching how deep pain can give way to new, meaningful hope. I'm human too, and in therapy, you will get my true self: laughter as well as tears.

I have been a licensed mental health therapist for fifteen years. My training and Master of Arts in Counseling were completed at Covenant Seminary in St. Louis, MO. Among my specific areas of expertise are working with Christians who need healing after trauma, from sexual assault to a childhood with divorce, death or without stability. I help people going through loss of an important relationship— a partner, parent or a church. I also work with many women who carry a weight of sexual shame from their teen and college years. I also have a passion for supporting women facing unexpected postpartum depression or anxiety. Lastly, I work with many people who want to include their Christian faith in counseling or who come from that background and are no longer sure what they believe.

My husband and I live in the Phinney Ridge neighborhood with our three daughters.

APPROACH & PHILOSOPHY

I work from a blended approach using techniques from the counseling theories of Cognitive Behavioral, Psychodynamic, and EFT- emotionally focused therapy. Broken down into simple terms, this means our sessions will entail developing an understanding of what has made you the person you are by looking at your family of origin, confronting the lies and damaging thoughts that run through your mind and replacing them with healthier truths—all this while believing you are capable of real change in your life. 

I also practice EMDR: a type of therapy that uses eye movements to help someone process and heal from trauma. If you would like to learn more about EMDR you can visit the EMDRIA website at EMDRIA

My counseling approach is multifaceted and flexible to serve each unique individual. Together we consider how your past relationships, current relationships, beliefs and actions overlap and attribute to the present difficulty. The counseling room is filled with discovering, weeping, rejoicing, grieving and learning. We incorporate your beliefs and how your present pain confronts and challenges those beliefs. Counseling is a place where you can grieve your anguish, tears and anger; therapy is a safe place to wrestle with suffering. Sometimes the hardest thing to do is to start crying because you're afraid if you start the crying won't ever stop. But it will. You are stronger than your deepest sadness and counseling can help you prove that to yourself.

PERSONAL BELIEFS

I’m passionate about giving Christians a safe place to wrestle with pain, loss, shame and grief where they know their faith will be honored. Faith and spirituality are beautifully and inherently complex. I am here to support where you are and bring your faith into the counseling process at the level you are comfortable with. Some of my clients do not want to bring their faith into counseling, and I welcome that. How I see the world is influenced by my belief in a good God and a fallen, hurting creation. I welcome people of all faiths and how much (if at all) we discuss issues of faith and spirituality will be chosen by you.

EDUCATION | Memberships | licensure

• University of Washington, Seattle WA; BA in English (2004) 

• Covenant Seminary, St. Louis, MO; MA in Counseling (2008)

• 50 hour EMDR training

• EFIT (EFT for individuals) Essentials Training and ongoing consultation

• Certificate of Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders through Postpartum Support International

• American Counseling Association, (ACA)

• Licensed Mental Health Counselor (LMHC) in the State of Washington #LH60244510