About Me
I look forward to working with you. In the meanwhile, let me introduce myself.
The culmination of my life’s lessons has given me perspective and brought me to where I am today. Personally and professionally, I share these insights and awareness.
To begin, I’ve always wanted to help people. More than that, I enjoy being of service.
Over time, I discovered that I have an intuitive gift for helping people discover their gifts and potential even before they know it themselves. As an artist, I especially enjoy working with other creative individuals, helping them realize and develop their talents. Creativity often expresses itself in well-known ways such as art, music, or writing. I, however, also see creativity in a more expanded manner: a person’s creative force that helps them move forward with any goal or aspiration they have. For instance, I can tell if someone’s creative side will help them run a company, or another goal they are meant to do.
I bring a holistic approach to my life and therapy practice. As an example, I’ve found that knowledge gained from my extensive engagement in natural healing through such disciplines as nutrition, yoga, and #MindfulnessMeditation enhances the therapeutic process.
When I’m not doing therapy, I’m walking in the woods, canoeing, swimming, painting, or doing yoga and meditation. My favorite thing to do is being in the woods with the trees. I feel an incredibly calming presence there. My mother was a South Carolina girl, raised near the Appalachian Mountains. I visited the area as a child. I was drawn to move back here with my family in 2009 to be in these beautiful grandfather mountains, which I found out are the oldest mountains in the world!
I am a lifelong learner, committed to my ongoing growth and development as well as yours. Join me on this journey of healing and wholeness.
As Your Therapist
Are you anxious or depressed, in pain, in an unhealthy relationship, feeling alone, wondering how you got here? Are you feeling stagnate, wanting more out of life?
Whatever your situation, I work with you to build a collaborative relationship, finding the best pathway to your healing. I create a safe and comfortable environment comprised of genuine caring and empathy, without judgment.
My clients tell me I’m warm, easy to talk to, and down to earth. I call upon a variety of treatment approaches. Your needs determine which ones we use. In general, I have a psychodynamic, relational approach combined with EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing). This technique quickly heals trauma and other upsetting experiences.
Some typical reasons people come to me are negative thought patterns, self-defeating behaviors, compulsions, addictions, trauma, or feeling trapped in the pain of the past and not knowing how to let go.
I work with couples to resolve conflicts, increase intimacy, rebuild trust after an affair, and with co-parents after separation. In order to feel truly loved, we have to feel known as a particular person and then accepted without excessive criticism or correction.
Training and Certifications
Engaging Spirituality Ethically and Psychotherapeutically, American Association of Pastoral Counselors, 2015
Emotionally Focused Training (EFT), in-depth training, 2011, 2015
BEING BRAVE – Is Enlightened Society Possible? with Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche and Ani Pema Chödrön (mindfulness meditation retreat), 2014
EMDRA Certified Therapist
Advanced EMDR training, Healing the Wounds of Attachment and rebuilding SELF, 2016
Advanced EMDR training, Substance and Behavioral Addiction, 2015
Advanced EMDR training, Neurobiology of EMDR, 2013
Advanced EMDR training, Health-Related Problems, 2013
Full member EMDRIA (EMDR International Association)
Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor (LCMHC), North Carolina, License # 7411
Healing Developmental Trauma, 2011
Sandtray Worldplay Therapy, with Auguste Elliot, L.P.M.A., 2000-2002
Psychoanalytically-informed Psychodynamic Psychotherapy, 2-year post-graduate training program, Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, completed 2000.
I have served in a therapeutic role since 1984. My first job after college was working full-time in a detox and psychiatric unit. This provided the base for my ongoing work with addictions and substance abuse. I earned my Master’s of Arts degree in Counseling Psychology with a concentration in Marriage and Family Therapy from Antioch New England Graduate School in Keene, New Hampshire in 1990. Prior to that in 1984, I graduated from the University of Vermont with my Bachelor of Arts in Psychology.
