Every clinician has a different perspective about the practice of therapy. For me, therapy is the practice of healing through relationship. Sometimes, this looks like practicing skills to help manage everyday barriers in mental health, and other times, this might look like sitting together as you hold something heavy. Life often hands us difficulty, pain, and confusion. The beauty of therapy is knowing that you don’t have to hold all of that alone. In my experience, practicing togetherness in the therapy room impacts connectedness outside the therapy room for sustainable change. In short, my job is to put myself out of a job!

The short answer is, yes! I both have experience and stay intentional in my continuing education in the areas of: racial and cultural identity, intergenerational trauma, spiritual deconstruction, and adult children with emotionally immature parents.

The long answer is: ‘specialty’ is a complex idea! I am always learning and changing because, well, I am human too! I make an effort to surround myself with trusted and diverse colleagues who have their own ‘specialties’, and my education has given me the training to work with a wide range of mental health issues. While I have a passion and personal attunement to issues like racial identity and intergenerational trauma, I am also qualified and enthusiastic about working with many things including: childhood trauma, depression and anxiety, gender identity and sexual orientation, family issues, grief and loss, and more. Please know that I am always honest about my scope of practice and where my limits are.

It can be helpful to know about what makes me qualified to hold space for therapeutic work together, especially when therapy can be an investment of time and resources. I am a National Certified Counselor (NCC) and a Professional Counselor Associate. This means I have completed a Master’s degree certified by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) and passed the National Counselor Examination. Along with coursework that covered topics such as individual counseling, childhood development, family counseling, couple’s counseling, and diagnosis, I was also required to spend a full school year as a practicum counselor in PSU’s community counseling clinic, move into a supervisory role and work with a counseling student, then spend an additional school year completing 600+ hours of experience working in a local counseling clinic. As a Professional Counselor Associate, I am required to maintain monthly supervision with a licensed supervisor, where I will continue to sharpen my skills and ask for help when needed.

You can find details about cost of services here.

No. Unfortunately, I am only permitted to see clients in the state of Oregon at the time of services. Luckily, you can log on to telehealth sessions from anywhere in the state so we have some flexibility there.

Portland is a small town, and cultural communities are tightknit. Because of this, I cannot guarantee that we do not have distantly mutual acquaintances within this community, but I CAN guarantee confidentiality within the confines of the ACA code of ethics. This means that I will not knowingly offer services to clients who I have direct relationship with (this includes, but is not limited to: friends or family, partners of friends or family, etc.), and will not disclose any identifying information about my clients unless I have written consent. The exceptions to this are if you disclose intent to harm yourself or others, if you disclose abuse of a child, elderly person, or person with a disability, or if I am required by law and subpoenaed by court. Confidentiality is something I take very seriously and I will be open and upfront about these tenants throughout our work together.