“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”
Maya Angelou
Approach and Education
I use a blend of transpersonal, person-centered, cognitive, and somatic (body-centered) techniques to promote self-exploration, awareness, healing, and self-regulation. I pay special attention to old wounding and related patterns that affect your life and can create cycles of dissatisfaction in body, heart, mind, and spirit. I enjoy leading my clients through inner child work, parts work, and empty chair work, as well as how to work in the here-and-now; I believe that everything we desire to work on exists in the present moment.
I am trained in mindfulness-based psychotherapy, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), Gestalt therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT, specifically CBT+, which includes TF-CBT), dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT), and am informed by IFS, attachment theory, and polyvagal theory.
I am polyamory, LGBTQIA+ affirming, as well as sex-, kink-, and body-positive (from a HAES framework).
My therapeutic approach stems from the training I received at Naropa University in Mindfulness-based Transpersonal Counseling. Transpersonal translates to “beyond the self,” which means when working with you, I am open to all of your lived experience including any spiritual or transcendent aspects. (If you want to know more about the term transpersonal or if any other terms that I use here are unfamiliar, check out my FAQ page – it has a glossary section!)
- License number: LH61212729
- NPI: 1477061117
- Degree: Master’s in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, concentration in Mindfulness-based Transpersonal Counseling – Naropa University (2019)
About Me
I have always enjoyed stories and good character development, which is why I sought out a degree in English/Creative Writing for my undergrad. A few years later, I realized that what I actually was drawn to was the deep and varied emotion of the human experience in these stories, rather than their entertainment value. That, paired with my strong desire to help people was what drew me to psychotherapy.
Previously, I have worked in community mental health with kids, teens, parents, and domestic violence survivors, as well as with teens, adults, and couples / intimate partners.
Outside of the therapy realm, I enjoy:
- Loving on my kitties
- Dancing (west coast swing, ballroom, freestyle around the house)
- Gaming (video, board, tabletop)
- Reading (sci-fi and fantasy mainly, as well as mental health and psychology-related books)
- Crafting (cross-stitch, crochet, painting, candle and soap-making)
I am specifically focused on serving Tacoma and Seattle, but also serve any cities in King and Pierce Counties (Puyallup, Spanaway, Graham, Lakewood, Burien, Tukwila, Seatac, Kent, Renton, Des Moines, Bellevue, Kirkland, Issaquah, Auburn, Vashon Island, Bainbridge Island, Maple Valley, Covington, Black Diamond, etc.), but I also serve all of Washington state (Olympia, Spokane, Bellingham, Vancouver) via telehealth.