My Background + Training

Education

  • M.A. in Marital and Family Therapy — University of San Diego

  • B.A. in English (Creative Writing emphasis, Theology minor) — University of San Diego

My background in creative writing led seamlessly into viewing the world through a family systems lens. It allowed me to continue cultivating a curious perspective about human stories and the intergenerational blueprints I have always wanted to understand.

Experience + Training

Further training happened on the front lines working in community mental health—in a homeless shelter, at a Children’s Advocacy Center, and at a high school. Sitting in those spaces taught me that behavior-based worksheets only take us so far when pain and patterns run deep.

Informed by a family systems perspective, I am trained in Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT). I utilize structured skills to help with immediate anxiety and the effects of complex trauma. However, I always combine this with a psychodynamic approach, enabling us to look beneath the surface and uncover the hidden patterns that drive your present-day life. Our behaviors are important, and they always have their reasons.

Currently, I am expanding this depth-work approach in the Denver Institute for Psychoanalysis's Psychodynamic Psychotherapy Training Program.

Special Interests + Ongoing Consultation

Amidst my training, I frequently integrate elements of Internal Family Systems (IFS) and Interpersonal Neurobiology.

I have a particular clinical interest in:

  • Psychodynamic paradigms and depth psychology

  • The intersection of sexuality and faith

  • Navigating identity and dating in the modern world

  • Highly Sensitive People (HSPs)

I have provided professional trainings on relational boundaries, trauma-responsive care, and intergenerational trauma to various local organizations, both secular and faith-based.

I undergo weekly consultation with a psychodynamic therapist and work part-time under Dr. Julia Sadusky, with whom I consult regularly.

Swapping Seats

Some of my most impactful training has come from sitting in the client’s chair myself. Over the past two decades, allowing the right therapists into my life has offered me invaluable gifts: courage, interdependence, and more patience with life’s meandering ways. Experiencing healing within my own therapy directly shapes how I sit with my clients. I also engage in regular spiritual direction, where I receive support in cultivating a life of prayer and greater presence.