About Me and My Approach
I view therapy as being a collaborative process where I am not the expert so much as the guide who has walked similar paths and has familiarity with and confidence in the way forward. While I have spent a fortune and many years in the pursuit of knowledge of the human mind, I believe that it is my familiarity with my own pain and my own journey that makes me good at this job.
I work with struggling children because I know what that feels like, and how important it is that kids do not feel alone in their struggles. I work with parents wanting to do better because I wish my parents had had more support. I work with teens in pain because I know how hard it is to keep pushing through the education system while also falling apart. I work with adults because my entire adulthood has been focused on seeking the stability and healing I did not get to experience earlier.
It is the welcoming of all parts of me that helps me welcome all parts of my clients’ hearts.
And it is my heart that allows me to do this. My messy, vulnerable, and unique heart is my greatest offering to the world and to helping others heal.
When I am not therapist-ing, I am human-ing. For me this means spending time with my cats, Shawn and Gus, tending to my large indoor garden, making art, walking in the woods, and traveling.
I came to art therapy because making art is how I have coped with the hardest times of my life. My favorite mediums to work with are clay, acrylic and watercolor paint, mixed medium collage, abstract sculpture, and weaving. I did two art shows during my time in graduate school, and I hope to do more.
Education
Antioch University Center for Play Therapy, 2019: Certification in Play Therapy
Antioch University Seattle, 2019: MA in Counseling via the Clinical Mental Health Counselor with specialization in Art Therapy track
Michigan State University, 2009: BA in Psychology
PDA of North America Level 1 Certification, Jan ‘24
Becoming an External Regulator for Trauma Integration in Play Therapy, Lisa Dion, RPT-S, April ‘22
PDA and Play Therapy, Jan ‘22
Safety and Presence in Play Therapy: Relational Neuroscience at the Heart of Healing, Bonnie Badenoch, Nov ‘19
IFS Online Circle, Internal Family Systems Institute, ‘18
Trainings
Career
When I started my psychology degree I stated strongly that I wanted to get my PhD in Clinical Psychology and do research, and I would NEVER do psychotherapy or work with kids. Developmental Psychology was just a required course to me then.
Life circumstances then forced me into my first job with kids: a kindergarten teacher’s aide and after school tutor for America Reads. Despite the initial awkwardness, I grew to love each child’s authenticity and directness. No one is quite as honest as a curious kindergartener!
This job led then to a job as a summer camp counselor and later an activity leader for their Outdoor Integrated Education year-round program and summer camp arts and crafts program director. I had no idea then how it would alter the course of my life. These jobs were both so much harder and so much more fun than I could ever have imagined. I got to sing silly songs and dress up but also teach skills and model healthy ways of connecting. I got to see the power and joy of supporting kids as they play and express themselves creatively. I got to be a safe adult for many kids who had rarely experienced this before. I decided then that I wanted to be an art therapist for kids.
When I finally moved cross-country to realize this goal, graduate school tested every one of my inner limits. It started with a class all about analyzing my own family of birth dynamics and trauma, and only got more challenging from there. But I also got to learn with and from some of the most amazing colleagues and instructors.
Life circumstances once again shifted my direction, and reminded me of the power of play. The year-long certificate program in play therapy reminded me of the joys of being a healer, and that therapy does not have to feel torturous to be effective.
I also then discovered I loved supporting neurodivergent clients of all ages. I got to experience what an honor it is to be able to use my knowledge of neurodivergence to help other ND kids, teens, and adults like myself realize that our systems are just wired differently, and we have both different needs AND strengths.
I have had my own private practice since 2021, and I love the independence and unique ways it allows me to support clients in a wider range of services and approaches. My future goals include continuing to deepen my education and training, begin providing webinars, a blog, and trainings for fellow therapists on areas I have specialized in.
As I frequently say, being a therapist is never a dull job! And while it is also not an easy job, I do not think there is any other job that I would love as much as I do being a therapist. I view it as my life’s honor to be able to support and walk beside my clients as they grow and heal.
