About
I am a solo practitioner by choice. My approach to therapy is to give you my undivided attention, to stay attuned to you throughout our session, and to absorb not just your issues but your energy, your story, and your place in the subjective universe you have constructed. If you have exiled yourself for fear of not belonging I will extend my hand to bring you back home. Over time my clients are able to feel completely safe with me and entrust their deepest secrets. These secrets are the bridges between us, walkways that help you see, know, feel, and affirm your own humanity. What is your deepest secret? Long suppressed grief over your loss of innocence and optimism, primal shame about your perceived inadequacy, the unfulfilled desire for true approval and love, feeling stuck in chronic depression, obsessive comparisons of self to others, being unable to set boundaries or being unclear about your identity and purpose in this life. I listen to you deeply without judgment while providing you with empathy, understanding, warmth, validation, and encouragement. I ask hard questions to shake the tree of your self-awareness, questions that many other therapists might fear to ask. I do not shy away from what appears to be troubling you the most. Once we unearth your deepest pain, dysfunctional coping mechanisms, and your inner obstacles to change, we go to work to facilitate a level of growth and development you never thought possible. The reward is to be the person you always wanted to be but feared would never emerge.
About Me
,
Helping others overcome suffering is my passion.
I have decided not to conquer the world
But to live in it,
While walking humbly with a thank you on my lips
I have decided to re-examine everything I was ever taught
By my parents and mainstream culture,
To come to truths I discover on my own,
And to reject whatever insults my soul
I have decided never to conspire with self-hatred
When I find it in another,
But to inspire self-compassion where self-hatred festered
And, water such compassion til it blooms to self-love
From personal experience and countless hours spent with clients, I know what emotional suffering is. I know how much it aches, and how it saps a person’s energy, motivations, and dreams, even their will to get out of bed or wake up the next morning. I know from my professional experience as a therapist that a strong alliance between therapist and client, and the right therapeutic approach, can work wonders of healing and recovery. My greatest wish for each client is to experience his/her/their authentic self and live with purpose, meaning, connection, creativity, play, humor, and joy, free from obsessive negative self-talk, self-sabotage, and needless conflict with others.
Qualifications
I am a licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (License No: 11679). In 2017, I received my M.S. degree with Honors in Mental Health Counseling. I have training in Trauma Therapy, Cognitive Processing Therapy, CBT, Internal Family Systems, Compassionate Inquiry, Somatic Therapies, and Existential-Humanistic Therapy. I specialize in treating individual adults with depression, PTSD, anxiety, and existential issues. Every single one of my clients endured significant childhood trauma, predisposing them to develop these conditions as adults. I am highly skilled at nosing out forgotten or suppressed childhood trauma, linking it directly to suffering in adulthood, helping clients to safely enter their core wound, heal their wound, and emerge to live a much healthier, happier life.
What makes me, me?
I have a sense of humor and a life-long love of comedy. I care deeply about nature, wilderness areas, and animals (especially the odd and endangered ones). Pickleball, traveling, photography, fine dining, cooking, baking, hiking, reading, movies, and bicycling all provide me with great pleasure. I go snorkeling every chance I get see coral reefs and beautiful marine fish, although sadly climate change, pollution, and tourism have destroyed or damaged many coral reefs.
Being extremely close to my wife, my two adult children, and my Australian Shepherd Willow is an integral part of me.