ABOUT ME

Who I Am

The age old question, who am I? I think we have all wrestled with how to define ourselves at one point or another, or perhaps we always are. "Who we are" is a phrase loaded with great complexity and is always changing as we change, learn and grow over time.

So a bit of who I am now at this moment in time. I am a Christian. Someone who cares deeply about helping other on their journey to discovering who they are. I love being creative and resourceful to find new ideas and solutions to problems and challenges. You can often find me doodling or doing something else art related. I also have been spending a lot of time recently researching and learning more about people's stories from the past, more specifically my family history. I find it interesting to think about the various challenges that others before me have faced to get me and others where we are today. Music has also been a large part of my life. I grew up in a family where something music related was often occurring or being participated in. There is also a bit of a geeky side to me as I love things such as The Lord of the Rings, Disney, The Chronicles of Narnia, and various others of this genre. If you ever want to have a conversation or do something sports related, there is also a good bet that I would like to participate in some capacity. There are some sports I am more knowledgeable about than others, but all of them are interesting in their own unique way.

What Does Counseling Look Like?

I have a wide variety of interests when it comes to the field of counseling, but I would say one of the areas I love the most about what I do is helping people grow and find hope when all else seems uncertain. While I am a counselor who is a Christian, I work with people from all races, ethnicities, religions, and backgrounds. I think it is very important to bring all those things that help make a person unique into counseling sessions. Those unique pieces about each person is important, and can be strengths to help towards reaching ones goals, and will be a highlight of the work we do together.

That being said, counseling is a partnership. You are an expert on yourself/your child, so it is important to collaborate and work together to find solutions to problems and issues that arise in sessions. I like to use an integrative approach that incorporates a variety of methods and intervention styles to best fit each individuals unique needs and personality.

Therapy with Children

When it comes to working with children, I think it is important to involve methods other than just talk therapy. One of a child's primary ways of processing their world is through avenues of play and creativity. Often times children also don't have the words to express how they are feeling and one of they ways we look to figure out and learn to express those feelings is through play, art, or another creative avenue. One of the primary ways I do this is through the use of TraumaPlay Therapy. TraumaPlay mixed clinician led activities with child led activities/play to help address current needs of the child and help them grow and process current challenges that need to be addressed.

To learn more about child play therapy feel free to visit The Association for Play Therapy at: https://www.a4pt.org/

To learn more about the TraumaPlay model feel free to visit The TraumaPlay Institute at: https://www.traumaplayinstitute.com/

I would also be happy to talk to you more about these modalities via phone or email.

Payment Options

I am currently working on contracting with various insurance companies, but not all have come through yet. If I am not currently in-network with your insurance, you may be able to still get some reimbursement from your insurance by sending them a super bill for services provided to bill out of network. Call your insurance company before hand to verify what that coverage may look like for your plan.

Currently In-Network with most major insurances (not Kaiser at the moment).

Especially in these times of high and rising cost, and with the awareness that sometimes unexpected costs happen, I want to try and make services as affordable as possible. With that I offer a pay as you can rate with the price range of $60-$150 per session. You get to determine your own cost for counseling, based on the rate that you think you can afford. This is not a fixed price, so you can vary the rate as needed per week to help accommodate life's unexpected surprises.

Certifications and Licenses

Masters in Clinical Counseling from Corban University (2017).
LMHC (Licensed Mental Health Counselor)
Certified Clinical Trauma Professional
Certified TraumaPlay Therapist

Major Trainings

Theraplay Level 1 Training.
TraumaPlay-- Level 1 and 2
TF-CBT.
NTI Adoption Training
Certified Trauma Professional Training
Several hours of Various Play Therapy Trainings while working towards becoming a Registered Play Therapist
Multiple Hours of Trainings in other areas as well such as CBT, Autism Interventions, Suicide/Self Harm Intervention, Eating/Nutrition, Motivational Interviewing, DBT and more.
Licensure Supervisor Training (15hrs+)