About
Life sucks, and you don’t know why.
It’s been a while since you felt like yourself. All you feel now is numb, lonely, bone-crushingly sad, on edge, like you can’t turn off, or you just can’t get started. Meh or Argh seem to describe it all.
You want to talk to someone, but you don’t want to be a burden, are tired of the platitudes that don’t help, or feel like you must figure it all out on your own.
Whatever is happening, it just sucks. It sucks to feel like you are missing out, and life is passing by you. It sucks to feel behind because everyone else seems to get it, and you don’t. It sucks to feel like no one understands you, and sometimes that someone includes you.
Perhaps you have thought, “Maybe I should talk to someone,” or maybe someone you care about and respect suggested seeking help.
Therapy offers help for many problems.
There are many reasons people see a therapist like me – to deal with past trauma, deal with anxiety or depression (or both), cope with significant life transitions or events, or gain self-knowledge and awareness.
If it feels like you are struggling with the same problem over and over, feeling overwhelmed or unhappy, or feeling lost and unsupported, it’s probably time to talk.
To be clear, talking to someone like me doesn’t mean you are crazy, broken, or that anything is inherently wrong with you. Life is just hard sometimes.
Things change, and we don’t always know how to change with them. Bad things happen to good people. It’s good to remember that extra help sometimes is helpful to all of us.
Ready to take back your life?
I want to help you find your voice, feel your power, and be at home in yourself.
As a therapist, I am a neutral party who has no personal attachment to your story’s outcome, but my goal is for you to succeed.
I’ll help you uncover the underlying roots of your distress, gain new insights into old issues, and learn techniques and tools to manage the patterns created by anxiety, depression, self-criticism, and beliefs that don’t work for you anymore. These tools and techniques help you feel better and improve relationships.
Let me help you regain control over your life.
About Me
I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Oregon and a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker in Washington State – different initials, same job – and I’ve been a clinical social worker for over 20 years.
My therapy approach is eclectic, drawing from several different modalities to provide you the best service.
My training is in CPT (Cognitive Processing Therapy) and EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) for trauma. I also draw from Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, Mindfulness, Motivational Interviewing, DBT (Dialectical Behavior Therapy), and Intersectional Feminism.
My road to becoming a therapist was an adventure.
I am a queer/lesbian (she/her/hers), a cis-gender woman, born and raised in Washington State. Although my college career started at Gonzaga University in Spokane, I transferred to the University of Washington in Seattle, where I graduated with a Bachelor of Art in History and a Bachelor of Art in Natural Science.
As I was approaching finishing my undergraduate degrees, I was uncertain of what to do with my future. I saw an advertisement for an audition for the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City (NYC), decided “why not?” and went for it. I got a position!
While in New York City, a professor encouraged me to explore therapy; he thought my emotional range was a bit stunted. LOL. While I consider him to be the worst acting teacher I had there, he ended up making the most significant impact on my life.
Going to my therapy put me on the road to becoming a therapist. It was a life-changing, maybe even a lifesaving decision. I earned my Master of Social Work degree from Adelphi University, New York.
I spent some time working in a private practice office in NYC, but most of my work was in drop-in programs and street outreach with runaway and homeless youth, predominantly BIPOC LGBTQ+ teens and young adults.
After New York, I eventually moved back to the Pacific Northwest and worked in community mental health as a therapist for over ten years. Ready to make a change, I packed us up and spent over a year traveling the US in an RV with my kid and my dog, finally settling in Eugene, OR. I am in private practice, providing teletherapy in Oregon and Washington.
I firmly believe that all therapists need to experience being IN therapy themselves. Over the years, I have had a few different therapists at different points in my life. The client chair is the most challenging chair to sit in. If we don’t understand that, then we are missing out on a massive part of the therapy experience.
A little about my life…
I enjoy spending time with my wife, our kids, and our two cats. We enjoy taking walks, the occasional hike, going to the beach, playing games, doing puzzles, cooking, and baking.
Given my year-long road trip, it’s fair to say that I love to travel. I’m a sometimes quilter and random sporadic crafter. I find joy in small places – like trees growing out of buildings and flowers growing in the sidewalk. What can I say? I’m a sucker for resilience.