I came into social work in 2009 with a passion for working alongside adults living with mental illness. My clinical experience includes hospitals, drug and alcohol clinics, non-traditional day treatment programs, horticultural therapy, and private practice talk therapy.
A focus on food has been part of my practice for years: I used to run a kitchen program within a mental health agency that empowers people to connect with food, food systems, and their effects on our emotional lives. I hung up my apron and transitioned into private practice therapy in late 2016. Most recently, I was the clinical manager at Walnut Psychotherapy Center, a group therapy practice that works with queer and trans folks.
I am attuned to how attachments are formed and inform our relational patterns. From a theory perspective, I am oriented towards a psychodynamic framework—investigating how our pasts hold current positions in our lives. I encourage belief in the power of the unconscious and the hard, necessary task of bringing unconscious motivations towards consciousness. I think that softness and resiliency are not in opposition and I hope that our therapy together will uncover our capacity for both.
I am an active collaborator with my clients and think movement begins when there is an authentic, mutual investment in the therapeutic relationship. I am a conversationalist, not a blank slate. I’m warm, I’m honest. I don’t have all the answers nor do I give homework.
My practice has a wide focus, having worked with diverse people over the years, but my current areas of specific focus are:
- Polyamory, non-monogamy, and variant relationship structures
- Sex and sexuality
- Substance use
- Men’s issues and identity formation
- Religion and spirituality.