BIO

I was born in Georgia and raised from age six in the Green Mountains of Vermont. I studied music at Johnson State College (now known as Vermont State University), graduated in 2010, and worked as a manual laborer until 2017, at which time I began work in the mental health field as a community support specialist and then case manager at Northeast Kingdom Human Services. In 2018, I moved to North Carolina to study mental health counseling at Wake Forest University. I completed my practicum, internship, and associate-level licensure hours at the Mood Treatment Center in Winston-Salem, NC. After receiving my independent license in 2022, I began work as a counselor contractor with Lewisville Family Counseling in Lewisville, NC. I currently run my therapy practice out of West Jefferson, NC. 

In my spare time, I like to hike, play music, and read. My favorite Northeast mountain is Mt. Lafayette (NH), my favorite Ashe County mountain is Three Top Mountain, my favorite composer is Beethoven, and I couldn't say my favorite author, but Jane Austen, Dostoevsky, and Tolstoy are up there for me. 

CREDENTIALS 

• MA in counseling from Wake Forest University (2020)

• Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor (LCMHC) (North Carolina license No.15789) 

• National Certified Counselor (NCC)

THERAPEUTIC APPROACH

My therapeutic approach is based, first of all, in Carl Rogers' person-centered theory. The basic idea behind person-centered theory is that people can naturally grow and change when provided with a non-judgmental and non-restrictive space to do so. From my experience, this has to be the foundation of whatever we do in therapy.  If you don't feel like you have the autonomy or freedom to be and trust yourself, you're going to feel defensive, and we won't end up exploring or working on anything important. This means my approach to therapy is going to be collaborative and that I will look to you as the lead (or co-lead) in the process. It is well-established that people get the best results from therapy when the client and therapist are actively collaborating. 

Beyond this person-centered foundation, my therapeutic approach tends to focus on how our nervous systems adapt or don't adapt to the conditions of our lives and how this impairs our ability to get our needs met. Many of our issues come from trying to make our natural nervous systems fit into a unnatural environments. Anxiety is the perfect example: The fear response is an activation of bodily energy toward escape from a physical threat. That is what it is designed to do. Now put yourself in a situation in which you are threatened but have nothing to escape physically: Your boss, for instance, is yelling at you. It's threatening, because you might lose your job and livelihood, but you can't run away from it. That energy still gets activated, but you don't use it to achieve a physical end, and the result is you feel anxious. This is just one example of how the mismatch between modern demands for survival and our natural environment creates issues. My approach in addressing these kinds of issues is to help you understand and accept your emotional responses, find ways to regulate and channel them, and refocus energy to the needs and desires that are being neglected because of nervous system interference. 

I also use other therapeutic modalities depending on your needs. Some people are more analytically oriented and do better with a cognitive approach that explores and challenges the underlying beliefs or schemas that the brain uses to organize information and execute behavior. I also use brainspotting to treat trauma and exposure and response prevention to treat panic disorder, OCD, and phobias.