I want to guide you to feel more connected to yourself
I have been working in the mental health and wellness field for over 15 years. Having studied and practiced extensively with a Trauma Informed Care lens, I work to help people navigate what has happened, not what is wrong.
How Did I Get Here?
I have been curious about people and their wellness my whole life. My own goal to help others was derailed in college when I experienced grief for the first time. I was told my grief would damage me too much to be a therapist. So, in my own search to feel better, I worked in non-profits, became a SCUBA diving instructor and even considered culinary school.
It was when I decided my grief did not define me, that I went back to grad school to pursue my goal of being a therapist. I learned that my experience with grief was normal, and that I felt better when I talked about it, connected with others and learned more about the neuroscience of trauma and loss.
Balancing Holistic Care + Evidence-Based Approaches
Our brain’s job is to keep us alive and safe, but it does not always know the difference between physical safety and emotional safety. That often makes us feel stuck in patterns of behaviors and defense mechanisms that do not work for us.
However, our brains are also capable of learning and change. Through observing of our triggers in thoughts, emotions and body, we can move from reacting to responding.
Working in a hospital for over seven years, I witnessed many people in pain and fear. I observed different ways people would react, and I became curious about the reactions as being more than just mental health issues. Taking a years long course in trauma informed care was life changing in how I view people. We are not a mental health diagnosis. We are not our trauma and pain. We are a whole person coping to survive, connect, love, find joy and thrive.