Philosophy and Therapeutic Approach

I want to help you flourish. You were created to thrive, enjoy life, and feel seen, loved, and cared for. Even though we experience the pain and sorrow of this world, I believe that God’s restoration and healing are happening all around us and are available to you. 

My therapeutic approach is humanistic and person-centered. You are the expert of your life and have unique needs in therapy. I use evidence-based practices to help you navigate your suffering, find meaning, and walk toward healing. I will create a space where you feel like you can be your full, true self. Relationships are key to healing and growth, and I desire our relationship to be one where you feel safe, valued, and heard.

Though we will focus on alleviating your struggles, you will also be encouraged and empowered through a strengths-based approach that involves recognizing your strengths. Despite the difficult circumstances that brought you to therapy, there are strengths within you that hold you up and keep you moving forward. Recognizing them can help push you where you want to go and build resilience for future challenges.

What to Expect in Therapy

It can be difficult to start therapy. It can feel intimidating for the focus to be on you and your story. It can be hard to know where to begin and to find the words for how to share your story in a way that you feel understood. It is vulnerable to open yourself up to a new person. I see you and the courageous steps you are taking to care for yourself.

Our sessions are your time, a dedicated space to process and work through the challenging things in your life. You may find that what is most helpful for you is that our sessions are a safe place for you to process. You may come already having a clear goal of what you want out of therapy and into which parts of your story you want to dive. Wherever you are, you are welcome to enter the space and ask for what you need. I will collaborate with you to create a plan that best suits your needs. 

In the first few sessions, we will spend time getting to know each other, and I will ask a broad assortment of questions to learn about aspects of your life. Then, we will work together to establish goals for our time together. These can be big or small – they help us have a direction to work toward. There may be therapeutic homework along the way to help you implement change outside of the therapy room. 

Prayer, scripture, or other spiritual practices can be implemented into our time together. We are all on a different spiritual journey and vary in our comfort level of incorporating faith in session. I will always ask for permission and follow your lead when it comes to integrating spiritual practices into therapy.

Personal Qualifications and Experience

I come from the world of Young Life, a non-profit youth ministry that serves adolescents around the world. I was on staff with Young Life for 5 years working with high school and college students. While working with students, I began to desire more skills and knowledge to help them navigate the suffering in their lives. I felt called by the Lord to move into the counseling field to become more equipped to walk alongside both adolescents and adults. 

I am pursuing my Master of Arts in Counseling from Denver Seminary with a concentration in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and School Counseling. I earned my undergraduate degree from Mississippi State University in 2017 in Human Development.

Personal Interests

I am married to my wonderful husband of two years, Tim. We have declared ourselves “summer Colorado people” in that we thrive the most in the summer on camping, hiking, fly-fishing, and those endless days of sunshine. A blue sky, warm sun, and wildflowers next to a shimmering alpine lake is how I would describe my ideal day; however, I will never turn down a coffee date on a rainy day.

The people who know me best know that I really love the things I love and get excited about the small things that bring me joy. I love getting lost in the world of a novel, attempting to bake gluten-free goodies, and wandering my neighborhood while listening to a random assortment of podcasts. You can also find me watching Gilmore Girls or Friends on repeat. This year, I started making pottery for the first time and fell in love with creating all sorts of oddly shaped pieces at my local pottery studio.