Welcome! I am so happy that you are taking this step towards healing and growth! I want to offer immense encouragement as you begin your journey of self-understanding. It’s my personal belief that all humans have the power to grow and heal, but sometimes we get lost or stuck on this journey. It can feel overwhelming and disheartening when we find ourselves stuck back in familiar (perhaps uncomfortable) places we’ve already been. That’s okay! It’s a part of healing. It’s my belief that this often occurs because we have memories, feelings, or needs that have gone unacknowledged or pushed aside. Therapy is a powerful place where we create insight into these patterns and find relief to live a more fulfilling life. 

As a therapist, I value safety and collaboration within therapy, and empower clients to always prioritize their safety. I believe an important factor to establishing trust is authenticity and transparency, which I uphold with warmth and non-judgment. As your therapist, we will reflect on past experiences, emotions, and relationships so that you can understand more deeply who you are and what it is that you as an individual need in order to heal. Once this has occurred, we will begin to explore new ways for managing distress and for establishing meaningful connections with others. 

Pregnancy, postpartum, and parenthood

I have a deep passion for supporting individuals throughout their journey with pregnancy, postpartum, and parenthood. As a parent myself, I am aware of the magic that lies within parenthood, and also the struggles one can face with finding a sense of identity, managing shame or guilt, or experiencing the re-emergence of wounds that so often occurs throughout parenthood. Additionally, as a relational and trauma-informed practitioner, I am especially passionate about supporting parents who wish to work towards implementing a respect-based and conscious parenting approach.

Somatic therapy

It’s a deep belief of mine that true health and healing must include attention to one’s body. Our body plays a primary role in communicating with ourselves about our world based on the accumulation of our lived experiences and those of our ancestors. Because of this, my clinical work typically incorporates body movement, somatic processing, breath work, and other nervous system regulating strategies.  

Experience

I earned my doctorate in clinical psychology from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology. Before coming to Balanced Awakening, I worked as a staff psychologist at University of Iowa. During my time at University of Iowa, I was entrusted with providing campus-wide therapeutic support and supervising/training doctoral-candidate graduate students. 

I have extensive experience offering both brief and long-term therapy to individuals with a wide variety of ages, identities/intersecting identities, and presenting concerns. I practice from an integrative approach, meaning I utilize an array of therapeutic approaches. Some therapies I have expertise in include: Self-Compassion, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Interpersonal/Psychodynamic Therapies (Interpersonal Process Therapy, Relational Cultural Theory), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), Mindfulness, Trauma-Informed, Somatic/Bodily Healing, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). 

In addition to therapeutic services I have completed an array of research on domestic violence, and I have also provided training in dynamics of power and privilege, white fragility, and social justice oriented mental health practice.