I was quite young when someone first reflected back to me that I held a deeply compassionate heart; it was the first time I remember being truly “seen.” My curiosity about human behavior, personalities and stories came a bit later, and then in my own therapeutic work as a patient, I learned how to be non-judging toward myself and others. These traits became the basis for how I sit with individuals in my 20+ years in the fields of social services and mental health counseling.
I started my career as a social worker when I co-founded a shelter for women and children in Indiana in 1993. A desire to prevent the internal drivers of chronic homelessness brought me to Seattle to study counseling at The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology where I graduated with an Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology in 2000. I launched a private practice that year and maintained it on a part-time basis as I devoted myself to doctoral work from 2004-2008. I graduated from San Francisco Theological Seminary in 2008 with a Doctor of Ministry in International Feminist Theology.
I went on to co-found Seattle Therapy Alliance, a low-cost counseling clinic for women, in 2009 in a commitment to making affordable counseling available in the Seattle area. In 2012 I became a mother, and that role has taught me as much as anything about human development and family relationships!
I am deeply honored to be invited into patients’ lives, and my hope is to be an agent of healing and transformation for each person who enters my office.