A bit about me as a person
I live in Swannanoa, North Carolina, with my partner Sarah, our roommate Tommy, and our cats Edith and Luna. In my free time I enjoy practicing yoga, cooking, gardening, foraging, studying foreign languages, singing songs, learning to play the charango & accordion, hiking, dancing, playing with puppets and improvisational theater games. I also enjoy my continued and always deepening study of herbalism, tarot, and astrology.
Professional Background
I hold a Masters of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina which I completed in 2015. There, I concurrently, concurrently completed a Post-Graduate Certificate in Expressive Arts Therapy. I am a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor in the state of North Carolina. I also trained with the Appalachian Gestalt Therapy Institute from 2014-2017.
A Bit about How I came to Practice in the way I do
Years prior to my work in the mental health field I earned a B.S. in Environmental Science from Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. An unusual place to study this field, I found myself drawn to outdoor work that simultaneously addressed environmental and social justice issues. I was very fortunate to have an internship that immersed me in dynamics of group work, service to the wider Philadelphia community, and to the public park system which supported and reinforced my own healing in therapy. This inspired me to find more ways I could connect with myself, others, and nature in more healthful and meaningful ways that were mutually beneficial to all involved, both the human and more than human. Ultimately, I discovered that all environmental problems were really human relationship problems, and those were rooted in multi-generational trauma and somehow this engagement process with one another and nature seemed deeply important.
This profound belief and passion for the healing power of nature guided me to work with inner city youth and rural adjudicated adolescents in Pennsylvania and Idaho in immersive outdoor programs. Following these experiences, I entered the wilderness therapy field in Western North Carolina. I worked with teens on the autism spectrum and later with young adults in early recovery from substance addictions. I worked in these programs as a wilderness guide, clinical therapist, family therapist, and Rites of Passage facilitator at various times. I’ve also counseled college students with substance use disorders, and worked adults of all ages with severe mental health disorders and their families at a therapeutic farm. I have also worked as an Adjunct Professor of Counseling at Lenoir Rhyne University's Asheville campus, and have I have also lead groups for organizations across the region.