B A C K G R O U N D 

There are indicators in my own life story that suggest that my work as a wellness provider has been more of a vocation than a career choice. Nevertheless, it wasn’t until a collegiate setting that it made itself fully known. While working in the Student Life Office at the Ringling College of Art and Design (in Sarasota, Florida), I would overhear students asking about campus resources for emotional support. There was no full time campus therapist at that time and no peer or faculty run support groups. In short time, I was involved in creating some of those programs, and student services became the place I would invest much of my free time and energy in my 4 years of college. I learned very much that healing is a creative process and I was eager to utilize all that the arts and healing combined had taught me at Ringling. 

T R A I N I N G
 
After The Ringling College of Art & Design, I received my MA in Expressive Art Therapies at Lesley University in Cambridge, MA.  While my practicum and internships were some of the very most intense settings, I learned much about the nature of suffering, the purpose of clinical language and that the language of an effective healing facilitator is multi-lingual. Whether it was with words or something else, the knowledge that one must continue to learn new ways of connecting was most important. How may I serve in a way that does not merely resurrect standard approaches but something specific to the client in front of me. After receiving my mental health license in 2006, I received my massage license in 2010 as a way to learn more about how some wellness practitioners facilitate healing from the outside in. While I do not practice massage presently, the knowledge of how we utilize the body to heal the mind and how we utilize the mind to heal the body has been incredibly valuable for my mental health practice today. 

S T Y L E / P H I L O S O P H Y
 
After working in both inpatient and outpatient settings for over 15 years, I began my own private practice in 2016. It was important for me that clients knew what to expect from me just by stepping into the space, more like a living room where shoes are optional and coffee or tea is readily available. I have never taken for granted how difficult it can feel to speak to a stranger about things that are so personal. My incredible respect for that risk combined with my own understanding of the responsibility of holding your stories will never be absent in your time with me.