As you heal and as you grow, you will create a more unique, beautiful, and resilient self.
About You
Do you sometimes feel that with so much happening you don’t know how or where to take the next step? Are you on the verge of being overwhelmed by work related stress? I can help you find relief from depression, anxiety, grief, and loss.
Do you struggle with issues with your family, significant other, or friends? Is it hard for you to set limits and maintain boundaries? Together we will explore ways of having relationships in which you can grow and thrive.
Trauma has many faces and ways of impacting us -- adverse childhood experiences, abuse, sudden unexpected events such as accidents, or even surgery and medical procedures. You can find relief from whatever it is that prevents you from living life on your terms.
Changes in life can be challenging whether you are adulting, changing careers, becoming an empty-nester, retiring, or facing the end of relationships. You look in the mirror and are not sure who is looking back at you. Through the work we will do together you will find ways of adjusting, regaining your balance, and living into your new life.
Are you on a personal or a spiritual journey? Are looking for a traveling companion to share the challenges and discoveries you make along the way? If so, I look forward to accompanying and supporting you as you grow from who you are now to the person you are becoming.
WHat You Can Expect
I see individual clients 18+ years old, both in-office and via telehealth. I take insurance, as noted below, work with self-pay clients, and offer a limited number of self-pay sliding scale slots. Together we will determine a frequency and a schedule that best meets your needs and therapeutic goals.
Through our initial meeting and follow-up conversations we will develop a treatment plan that will identify your therapeutic goals and the steps we can take to achieve them. We will build a relationship of trust and positive regard that recognizes your strengths and abilities and that will support the work we do together. At times the work may be challenging but you will always be encouraged, supported, and respected.
My approach is integrative, combining person-centered talk therapy with approaches that recognize the critical importance of the body-mind connection. To that end, I draw from my training in Somatic Experiencing, EMDR, Brainspotting, and mindfulness practices. I am able to draw from other resources as the need arises.
I know it can be difficult to reach out for help and it is important that we are the right fit. This is why I offer a free 15-20 minute telephone consultation. It will give you the chance to ask any questions you may have and give me an idea of why you want to start therapy.
About Me
You might say that counseling is a later in life career for me. Over the years I have been fortunate enough to travel, meet people from many different cultures and work in a variety of jobs. I also have had a variety of educational opportunities.
I grew up in coastal North Carolina and received my BA from Johns Hopkins University. I received my Juris Doctor from Wake Forest University School of Law and a Master of Divinity from Candler School of Theology at Emory University. In and among all those years in the classroom, I worked as both labor and management in steel fabrication and the scrap metals industry, in retail sales, as an agriculture laborer, and ran a delivery truck for a nursery. I served as a chaplain at Northside Hospital and St. Josephs Hospital and also was an instructor for the American Red Cross and an adjunct professor at Georgia Perimeter College.
While I have traveled extensively, the most exciting journey of all was my trip to Ukraine where I met and adopted the little boy who was to become my son. Because of the work he and I did in our own counseling sessions, I decided to pursue a career as a Licensed Professional Counselor. In 2015 I graduated Mercer University with a Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling.
And so here I am and here we are. To quote the Grateful Dead album title, "What a long strange trip it's been."
The thread that connects us is our desire to respond rather than just react and thrive rather than just survive. No matter what you have been taught, you do not have to do it “all by yourself.” Together we will work towards living life on your terms.
