ABOUT ME

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Hello there. I'm glad you are here.

I am a Licensed Professional Counselor with over 20 years of experience in the mental health field including community mental health, hospice bereavement care, and private practice therapy. 

​It's a combination of my own stories, experiences and training that have led me to uniquely understand how trauma affects the deep places of our hearts and minds. We can find ourselves stuck in fear, shame, guilt and worry that we won't ever change. The therapy relationship can assist in exploring these stuck places to gain clarity and insight into how they began. We can come to know parts of you that need their voices to be heard. You can learn new ways to seeing yourself, others, and even God. New ways of being in the world. Let me reassure you that you can experience healing. ​I'd be honored to walk with you.

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​My approach to counseling is influenced by attachment theory, theology, internal family systems, and narrative therapy. Rather than seeking to focus on coping skills, I invite my clients to begin being curious about early caregiver/attachment relationships and the messages taken in through those frequent ongoing interactions. This is what we call story work. I seek to help clients find patterns and themes in their stories that have influenced the way they see themselves, relationships, and the world. Very often, there are stories that need to be named, grieved and wrestled with in order to be able to move into different ways of relating and being. 
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I also utilize a mode of therapy called EMDR. EMDR stands for Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing and is an evidence-based therapy that is helpful in treating anxiety disorders, depression, complicated grief, trauma, and PTSD. I find EMDR can help access the places that talk therapy is unable to get to at times. It can help the brain to process through the emotions, thoughts, sensations, and images associated with distressing events or memories. To learn more about how EMDR works, click ​​HERE.

photos by Allison's Photo Co.

​AREAS OF SPECIALTY

Grief & Loss
Narcissistic Abuse
Adult Children of Narcissists
Developmental & Complex Trauma
Covert/Emotional Incest
Codependency

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​EDUCATION & TRAINING

Master of Arts in Counseling
Saint Louis University
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Licensed Professional Counselor in Missouri
Since 2007

Narrative Focused Trauma Counseling Certificates  
​The Allender Center at The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology