ABOUT ME

Education

I earned my master's degree from the University of Colorado Colorado Springs in Clinical Mental Health Counseling with an emphasis in addictions.  The CMHC program at UCCS is accredited by the National Board of Certified Counselors (NBCC), which is the leading authority for overseeing professional counseling.  I've successfully completed the Colorado Jurisprudence exam, the University required Counselor Preparation Comprehensive Examination, and the National Counselor Exam, which is for national board certification and administered by NBCC.  

Training 

My practicum training took place on the Substance Abuse Treatment Program unit of the Department of Veteran's Affairs both in Colorado Springs and Pueblo.  This training allowed me to work directly with Veterans seeking assistance with substance use and abuse.  I was fortunate enough to see Veterans individually, in group therapy, and through the Partial Hospitalization Program.  After this, I completed my internship at a formal student training site with Mental Health Services on campus at UCCS.  There I was able to maintain an individual caseload under the supervision of highly trained and leading providers in their respective specialities, and where I helped co-facilitate a Grief and Loss group for students.  

My pre-licensure supervision was completed with one of the region's leading Neuropsychologists at a private practice outpatient clinic in Colorado Springs which offers services to Veterans, active duty service members, as well as their families.  I was trained to administer neurofeedback as a supplemental intervention to help regulate brain function.  During this training I developed a sound understanding of how maladaptive neuropsychological functioning can directly impact the level with which clients feel symptomatic.  I gained insight to know that by attending to disruptions of relating to self and others from a typical counseling approach and treating maladaptive neuropsychological functioning from a medical model approach, therapy can allow for a much more thorough, targeted opportunity to be successful in healing.  

I have also completed a yoga teacher training with the Veteran's Yoga Project where I learned how body movement and the impact of using yourself as a physical agent of change can help regulate and calm the nervous system, which contributes to a reduction and alleviation of trauma and stress responses.  

Experience 

The Colorado Springs Counselor, PLLC is my personal private practice that has been established since 2018, an endeavor that I launched shortly after completing my Master's degree coursework, and nurtured since before becoming licensed.

Through my direct client experience, trauma-yoga classes, supervision of other burgeoning professionals, guest teaching appearances, consulting for other businesses, online media presence, and the recent launch of a Professional Coaching platform Life Coach Club (where I mentor other Professional Coaches and function as the Founder &  CEO), I've helped hundreds of men, women, and children feel seen, heard, understood, and ultimately experience transformation in their life that is foundational and significant.  

Over the years my niche client has found me - those that struggle with both interpersonal and intrapersonal relationships as a result of poor attachments learned in formative years and the presence of childhood developmental trauma.  My expertise in the field lies in helping clients understand their own functioning mechanisms related to dynamics, neuropsychological patterns, and through the overall experience of being human.  Relationships are everywhere and everything, not just with others, but also with ourselves.  Mastering the art of optimal relationship dynamics changes the course of people's lives, and I'm here to help you do that.  

Approach

My therapeutic orientation is primarily Client-Centered, focusing on the therapeutic relationship as the major factor in eliciting healing and growth, and with seeing you as a person with uniquely important needs.  It is not a directive approach that involves telling you how to get well, but instead allows me to align with you and guide you towards finding your own truth.  Cognitive Processing Therapy helps us identify, challenge, and replace negative core and often unconscious beliefs about yourself, others and the world.  Psychodynamic theory helps us examine your past experiences and relationships so we can better understand why you are how you are now.  Narrative Therapy helps us rewrite the story you have been telling yourself about who you are and what has happened to you.  Internal Family Systems allows us to get to know and understand all the unique parts of who you are so that you can better get your own needs met. 

The combination of my master's level education, my training and supervision experiences, as well as my ability to see clients through an interpersonal trauma and attachment lens, contribute to my ability to effectively and compassionately meet you where you are at in the initial change process and to ultimately elicit lasting and impactful change in your life. These factors have collectively allowed me to have a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of what has happened to you, who you truest self is, and how to guide you to where you want to be.

I'm looking forward to working with you and can't wait to get started...