My Background
I have a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Central Washington University and a Master of Arts degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from George Fox University. I am currently also earning a PhD in Psychology from the University of St. Andrews, examining the intersection of trauma and support or betrayal from religious communities. My clinical education has included focused studies in human growth and development, counseling theory, group counseling, psychopathology, and interpersonal neurobiology. Additionally, I earned a post-graduate certificate in Trauma Response Services from George Fox University, which offers specialized concentration in post-traumatic stress intervention. As an MBACP and a Licensed Professional Counselor, I am required to participate in ongoing continuing education, engaging in classes and seminars which undergird my ability to practice in a way that is aligned with the latest research in the field.
Therapy with me
As a counsellor, I hope to be a collaborative facilitator of growth and change in the persons with whom I work. I believe that people are endlessly resilient and have incredible capacities for overcoming adversity. Through a therapeutic relationship which offers safety, bravery, connection, information, and hope, I aim to use each client’s unique sets of resources to transform the pain they have experienced into lasting growth and resilience.
I utilize a variety of different approaches to therapy, but one of the main themes of my approach is to work from a bottom-up, as opposed to a top-down, approach. What this means is that the process of change happens by first starting with body-based, emotional, and relational processes to transform thoughts and experiences, rather than changing thoughts in order to change feelings, as seen in therapies like CBT or DBT (though I use these occasionally too where they fit better for the client).
One of the main therapies I use is Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP), which is a profoundly relational model that uses the undoing of aloneness from an interpersonal neurobiological perspective to unlock plasticity and create healing. I also use Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) as a way of moving clients through the intensive trauma-processing stage of therapy in a powerfully healing way. Finally, I also utilize Internal Family Systems (IFS), which uses the inherent leadership abilities of the Self to integrate, harmonize, and heal formerly fractured and adversarial parts of us
