A little about me 

I help adults and adolescents who are struggling with hopelessness and feeling stuck in life understand their experiences and begin carrying out the change they want to see, to create new passions and excitement in life.

I believe everything happens for a reason. The goal is not to decipher why, but to make space for and accept what comes your way. Whether life has felt excruciatingly painful or excitingly wonderful, I believe you can choose the path that helps you move forward each day instead of feeling stuck suffering.

Change is scary, whether you are someone who hates it or welcomes it, and it takes dedication. As your therapist, I will follow your lead, listening and collaborating as we walk together on your growth journey. My goal is to support you with curiosity, empathy, compassion, and warmth as you step outside of your comfort zone, process hardships, and discover yourself. I will always encourage and celebrate your strengths and resiliency along the way, as it is easy to forget the small wins during a battle. In the end, my hope for you is to feel comfortable living authentically while learning to be open to experiences and accept the inevitable uncertainty that comes with life. Oftentimes when pain becomes suffering, it is because our brains naturally react and try to protect us. So, we reject our true emotions or maybe find it difficult to feel them to begin with, forget about self-compassion or think tough love is best, and are avoidant in some form. I want to help you break through these habits and create new pathways so your brain stops reacting and you start responding. My work will target increasing self-awareness, autonomy, and confidence and uses an authentic, relational and direct approach.

As a neurodivergent individual whose niche obsession is the human mind, I want to know as much about you as you feel comfortable sharing. I will always have questions to get to know your experience better and have great pattern recognition to offer new insights. I welcome feedback or being corrected, I want you to feel safe speaking up for yourself in my presence. I value advocating for others, psychological flexibility, creativity, and clarity. I believe therapy should be a mixture of seriousness and playful, because sometimes humor and connection can be more healing than anything.

I work primarily from a cognitive-behavioral lens while using person-centered and psychodynamic theories to drive my curiosity and presence in the room. This means that I will consider your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors in the present moment to foster change while also utilizing your past experiences and future desires to guide our work together. I believe therapy needs to be catered to the individual despite my preferences, which means I am always open to trying something new or adjusting my approach to suit you best while maintaining my own authenticity.

I am currently a third year doctoral candidate in the Clinical Psychology program at George Fox University. I hold a Master of Arts degree and am pursuing my PsyD. I am under direct supervision of Dr. Shelby Tuthill, PhD and supervised by Dr. Sanderson and my university. I have gained clinical experience working with individual's facing challenges due to OCD/anxiety, substance use, depression, ADHD, Autism, trauma, grief, interpersonal conflict, and major life transitions. Regardless of my experience, I welcome all mental health struggles and diverse identities, including those part of the LGBTQIA2S+ community. I look forward to meeting and working with you!

Outside of my responsibilities as a student and therapist, I am a dog mom who loves balancing adventure and relaxation, and a Navy Officer learning to enjoy working out. On some weekends I spend my time hiking, camping, gardening, or sitting on my porch with my partner. Otherwise, I can most likely be found lounging on the couch with a show I’ve already seen or a book until it makes me too sleepy to continue reading. My two most favorite things in life are looking for cool new rocks and sharks!