About

In 2005, after becoming a single mother of three sons, I embarked on the journey of becoming a marriage and family therapist. I was fortunate to already have an AA degree so I enrolled in Bastyr University's Health Psychology program. Bastyr is an alternative medicine school and I choose this university because I was interested in offering clients an alternative to pharmaceutical mental health treatments. At Bastyr, I fell in love with ecopsychology; practicing psychology as if the whole earth mattered. With ecopsychology came the therapeutic modality of nature therapy which led to a further interest in somatic therapies; which is a whole body approach to mental health treatment. During my time at Bastyr I completed a practicum with Wilderness Awareness School's weekly program for homeschooled children. Although Wilderness Awareness School is not a mental health treatment facility, it is a program that models the power of nature, community, council, and elders in creating a healthy community.
After graduating from Bastyr University, I enrolled in Antioch University's Child, Family and Couple's Therapist program where I studied to become a Marriage and Family Therapist. During my time at Antioch, I completed an internship at Cascade Community Healthcare's child and adolescent program in Centralia, WA. I continue to be employed with Cascade as a clinical supervisor and program manager to this day.
In my 10 years with Cascade Community Healthcare, I started as an intern in the child and adolescent program and then became a therapist in that same program. I provided individual, group and family therapy to children aged 3 to 21. I also taught a dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT) skills group to adolescents and facilitated summer outdoor therapy groups to all age groups. In January 2015 I took on a contract position with Cascade of providing therapy to children at schools in Mossyrock, Morton and White Pass, Washington. I maintained this position until April 2016 when I suffered a hip injury and could no longer drive the distance from Centralia to Randle every day. I then resume providing therapy to children at Cascade’s Centralia location until I was promoted to manager of the WISe program in February 2017; which is my current position.
During my work as a children’s therapist at Cascade Mental Health, I received the necessary training to become a Child Mental Health Specialist. I have also been trained in trauma focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy skills practice, mindfulness, and play therapy for younger clients. I have a passion for nature based therapy and have incorporated that into my practice when it has been practical. In addition, I have participated in providing family education groups in a weekly group called family focus, have worked with parents of younger children to learn 123 Magic, and have provided parent management skills to parents struggle with severely behaviorally challenged children.
Currently I wish to expand my career by providing therapy to teens, adults and the LGBTQ+ population. I am now 47 and identify as queer. My own children are grown, and my professional interests have changed. I have extensive experience working with teens in individual therapy, family therapy, and group therapy settings. I also have ample experience working with LGBTQ+ youth. I have some experience working with adults; mostly as parents. One area of expertise is in management and clinical supervision of adults. In supervision, I am often put in the position of holding space for emotions and providing coaching to employees. I currently supervise nine therapists working toward licensure and am the only supervisor at my current agency who has retained 100% of my employees through COVID. These past two years have shown that telehealth can be as affective as face to face sessions and I am at the place in my career to expand into the realm of telehealth therapy.