Qualifications & Experience

I hold a BA in Psychology with a minor in Sociology from Vanguard University and an MA in Counseling Psychology from John F. Kennedy University with a focus on adolescents, young adults, and families. I have an art therapy certificate and specialized art therapy training. I also have NLP training and life coach training.

My Call to Christian Counseling

I didn’t always have a great childhood. I wanted to help others like me and wanted to serve women like my mom, who I always thought deserved the world. When I was in high school, I discovered psychology and therapy. I decided early on to become a counselor, thinking I’d focus on teens. As I grew in my career, I realized one major way to change the cycles was to help moms with their mental health and healing, as well. I’ve spent my whole adult life focused on that career of counseling with teens and women especially.

More About Me/On a Personal Note

I’m an author and love to write. I love anything with a story, so movies, books, TV shows. I’m a crafter and enjoy paper crafting and digital art on my iPad. Any chance I get, I can be found by the water – lake, beach, river, doesn’t matter. If it’s water, I want to be there. I have a wonderful husband and two beautiful young children, so I spend my time with them. Right now, we do a lot of what the kids want to do, which, lucky for me, includes a lot of time by the water.

Areas of Expertise/Specialties

• Abandonment and Neglect
• ADHD
• Anxiety
• Chronic Illness and Disability
• Coaching
• Counseling for Teens
• Codependency
• Depression
• Grief and Loss
• Group Counseling
• Individual Counseling
• OCD
• Online Counseling
• Personal Development
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
• Professional Development
• Relationship Issues
• Spiritual Development
• Trauma
• Women’s Issues

Women’s Issues

Women face daily concerns around home, career, and family, often carrying it all on their own. When we look at health, wealth, and safety on top of all of that, we as women carry a great load. When I sit down with women in my office, I do so with empathy and understanding, knowing that processing the basics also comes with processing the society in which we live and move. Counseling offers a safe space for women to process these concerns, and to know they aren’t alone in their struggles.

Anxiety and OCD

Anxiety is a part of life for nearly everyone. It goes deeper than just a concern over a big decision or being in a dangerous situation. Anxiety is our brain’s way of trying to kick our survival into overdrive, and in the modern world we can often find it displaced.

OCD takes those anxious thoughts and puts them on a loop, driving behaviors that protect us. In the counseling office, we have a safe space to explore anxious thoughts and even behavior patterns driven by them. The counseling room gives us a place to begin to bring peace to our frazzled minds and hearts and learn to navigate those thoughts so we can begin to live at peace within ourselves.

Counseling for Teens

Much of my career has been built on counseling teens. There is something amazing about giving a teen a safe space to talk and open up so they can explore their identity and place in the world. I love that teens are honest (if you give them a chance) almost to a fault, but I’ve noticed that they often struggle to trust.

Counseling with teens also gives them an unbiased place to explore their hurts, traumas, and hard questions the adults in their lives often struggle to handle. My work with teens, especially teen girls, has been some of the most rewarding in my career.

Spiritual Development

If you are recovering from spiritual abuse, trauma, or ambivalence in your relationship with God, Christian counseling for spiritual development can help. I’m here for those who need support in processing those spiritual hurts from within the church so they can find their way to a healed relationship with the body of Christ (if that is what they seek).

There is also a growing need in the church for counselors who understand the heart behind deconstruction, especially for those of us who continue to love God, live as Christ did, and want to continue in our faith. I’ve been there, and I’ve walked with others through that. Sometimes, the need is for someone to see us, be willing to sit with our questions, concerns, and hurts, so that we can continue to serve God in the way that best reflects the Son. For a growing number of people, this path of questioning in the modern American church is leaving them feeling like they don’t have a home in the body, when the opposite is true. I’m here to walk that journey with you, whatever the outcome. Christ doesn’t shy away from our questions, and we can learn to love and serve Him more fully when we’re allowed to process our own faith.

Coaching

Sometimes, we don’t need full-on clinical intervention. That’s where coaching comes in. As a trained life and mental wellness coach, I have a passion for working with women, especially moms, toward building a life where they kick burnout and imposter syndrome and begin to live out the life they love. Coaching is about the present and the future, focusing on goals and developing skills that help a person create the life of their dreams. When coaching, I get to come alongside a client in a less structured way and guide them through these goals and skills, helping them experience a final outcome they are proud of.

Chronic Illness and Disability

Being diagnosed with a chronic illness or developing disability can be a difficult and traumatizing part of life, as can growing up with these issues. As a fellow chronic illness warrior myself, I understand the difficulties of navigating a broken medical system, the pain that comes with giving up interests we once had, or watching life drastically change because of health concerns. In counseling, I give clients the space to process all of this pain and hurt, and the grief that comes along with losing or changing the life and dreams you once had because your body has changed or worsened. My counseling office is a safe space to process everything that comes with the development and progression of chronic illness and disability.

Sessions: I offer 53-minute sessions. Sessions can be held more than once per week, weekly, or every other week. Scheduling options are discussed in greater detail during your Risk-Free Initial Session.

Availability (by office location):

• Kirkland – Wednesday, Friday and Saturday
• Online (WA Only) – Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday

Fees: I offer a Risk-Free Initial Session for individuals looking to pursue counseling with me. Please note that there is a fee for the Risk-Free Initial Session as it is a clinical hour and reimbursable to most insurance companies, but if you choose not to reschedule and continue therapy after the initial session the entire fee for the session will be waived. For ongoing treatment the full fee per session is required at the time of service.

Insurance: As a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT), most insurance companies will reimburse for a portion of my services (as an Out of Network Provider). Please consult with your insurance provider as to whether they specifically cover adolescents and adult individuals.

Receipts/Statements: In the event you require a printed or digital receipt, I will provide receipts for personal use, insurance reimbursement, Flex Spending Accounts (FSA), and Health Savings Accounts (HSA).

Payment options: Cash, Check, or Credit Card (Visa, MasterCard, Discover, & American Express). A fee of up to 4% per transaction may be added for credit card payments.

Payment options: Cash, Check, or Credit Card (Visa, MasterCard, Discover, & American Express). A fee of up to 3.7% plus $0.15 per transaction will be added for credit card payments.