Have you ever spent so much time being who other people needed you to be that you aren’t entirely sure who you are anymore?
I have a particular heart for what I think of as the “identity reclaimer”—the person who shows up for everyone else, adapts to what others expect, and somewhere along the way loses touch with their own needs, voice, or sense of self. I especially enjoy working with teens and young adults who are beginning to ask important questions about who they are and how they want to live, but I also work with children, adults, and couples, including couples seeking premarital counseling.
My style as a therapist is warm, inviting, collaborative, and gently challenging. I want you to feel genuinely seen and understood, but I also don’t believe caring for you means always making therapy comfortable. Sometimes growth means becoming curious about something we’ve avoided, considering a different perspective, or having someone compassionately point out a pattern we haven’t been able—or haven’t wanted—to see.
I also believe therapy works best when we are both invested in the process. I’m not here to “fix” you, and I don’t see you as a passive participant in your own therapy. I bring my training, perspective, curiosity, and commitment to the room, while you bring something equally important: your experiences, strengths, goals, and knowledge of your own life. We work together.
My approach is shaped by systemic, humanistic, and psychodynamic perspectives. This means I don’t look at emotional struggles as though they exist only inside an individual. Our families, relationships, communities, environments, and earlier experiences can all influence how we learn to see ourselves and relate to other people. Sometimes understanding the systems we have lived within helps us recognize why certain patterns developed—and decide which ones we want to carry forward.
My clinical training includes Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP) Level 1 and Level 1 Adlerian Play Therapy. With children, play provides a developmentally appropriate way to communicate, explore emotions and experiences, and build connection. With teens and adults, experiential and relational work can help us move beyond simply understanding something intellectually and begin exploring what is happening emotionally beneath the surface.
I earned my Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Troy University and my Master of Science in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Columbus State University. I am aLicensed Associate Professional Counselor (LAPC) and currently practice under the supervision of Julie Evans, LPC, CPCS. My early clinical training took place in a multidisciplinary teaching environment where I learned alongside professionals from different disciplines, including marriage and family therapy and pastoral care. That experience helped shape the multisystemic perspective I continue to bring to my work today.
Ultimately, I want you to know that you don’t have to become a different version of yourself to satisfy someone else’s expectations. Therapy can be a place to understand the experiences and relationships that have shaped you, reconnect with the parts of yourself that may have gotten lost along the way, and begin deciding more intentionally who youwant to be.
Outside the therapy room, I enjoy virtual escape rooms, murder mystery puzzles, spending time in nature, trying new foods, and hanging out with my dog. Apparently even my relaxation needs to involve solving a problem now and then.
I am currently practicing under the supervision of Julie Evans, LPC, CPCS.