About

I am a licensed clinical social worker in North Carolina with 18 years of experience supporting individuals facing grief, loss and significant life transitions. I was drawn to grief work after the death of my mother from cancer when I was seventeen, and the desire to more deeply understand and make meaning out of my experiences. Prior to beginning a private practice, my professional career has included work as a nursing home social worker, a hospice social worker and a hospice grief counselor. I approach grief not as a problem to be solved, but rather as a natural, human response to loss, and, as writer Jane Brody describes, "a process to be tended and lived through in whatever form and however long it may take." When we are deeply grieving, it can feel as if the rest of the world is carrying on as normal all around us, while our personal world has been shattered and turned upside down. My personal and professional experiences heighten my sensitivity to the feelings of profound isolation, anxiety, depression, overwhelm, confusion, anger, guilt, regret, and shifting sense of self that often surface when we are grieving significant losses and facing major changes in our lives.

I offer a safe, accepting and nurturing setting for exploring the complexity of emotions, changes and challenges that may accompany times of transition, loss and uncertainty in our lives. My approach is largely humanistic, emphasizing our unique strengths, inherent wisdom and capacity for self discovery. Our work together may incorporate mindfulness and self-compassion practices, expressive arts, as well as the use of writing and symbolic ritual as a means of expression , release and healing. Past clients have expressed particular appreciation for my genuine, thoughtful and individualized approach to counseling. I believe it is vital to make space for acknowledging and exploring the painful aspects of loss and change, while also inviting room for possibilities of healing, regrounding and reconnection to life that, although forever changed by loss, can still have meaning.

Outside of counseling, I am married, and parenting two teenaged sons. I find delight and grounding through taking long trail walks with our beagle mix, knitting soft scarves and hats, reading poetry, leading therapeutic writing circles and baking.