I have been practicing as a therapist since 2015 when I earned my master's in counseling from Antioch University Seattle. A few decades of exposure to different forms of suffering, healing, and inspiration drew me to this work. I have lived experience with anxiety struggles, pain and joys of LGBTQ+ coming-out, ongoing practice in facing my white privileges, learning from wise teachers, and being in loving relationships and communities where I have felt seen and welcomed as myself. I have also had secondary exposure that has deepened my compassion, respect, and interest in other people's struggles and brilliance--through supporting loved ones through trauma and loss; studying systems of injustice and narratives of resistance; and listening to thousands of people's stories of poverty, discrimination, violence, survival, and cultural belonging through years working in social services before I entered the counseling field. Originally raised in the Maine woods, then moving to the cities of Philadelphia and Seattle in adulthood, my therapeutic presence is rooted in the steadiness and quiet of trees, and in the nourishment of human-to-human connection across difference and shared experience.

Through all the kinds of education I've had so far, I believe every person has deep basic needs for safety and growth, and develops adaptive ways of being in the world in response to how well those needs have been met. When those adaptations start to become less helpful or when social-emotional needs go unmet for too long, distress can develop.

My approach to addressing these wounds is relational and psychodynamic, grounded in teachings on attachment, mindfulness, the nervous system, and social context. This means that I tune in to patterns of feeling, thinking, and acting that have formed through interpersonal and systemic experiences, especially early in life. I work to co-create a therapy relationship that is healing, supportive, and a focus of exploration in and of itself, through which new ways of being with oneself and others can emerge. My style is often exploratory and conversational, at times gently guiding and experiential. As a person, I bring a warm, attentive presence, patience, and deep listening. Clients tend to share that they feel safe, cared about, and supported in finding their own path. I love this work and the people I get to know.