Experience, TRAINING and Education
I am a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) in Colorado, Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LCPC) in Idaho, and a Nationally Certified Counselor (NCC) who works especially with children, adolescents and members of the LGBTQ+ community (AND their friends and family). I am trained in Play Therapy and am a member of the Colorado and National Association for Play Therapy. As a play therapist, I've presented at various Play Therapy conferences and I'm currently working on my Registered Play Therapist credential! I also hold membership with the National and Regional Associations for Counselor Education and Supervision, The American Counseling Association and the Colorado Counseling Association.
I received my B.A. in Chemistry and minor in Studio Art from Westmont College, Santa Barbara, in 2009. After working as a college admission counselor for two years, I returned to Colorado and completed my MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs in 2014 and was awarded the Most Outstanding Graduate Student for our department. I'm currently working on my PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision from the University of Northern Colorado (UNCO) and hope to finish in 2022 with a minor in Statistics and an emphasis in Play Therapy. While at UNCO I've co-taught our Foundations of Play Therapy course.
I'm also teaching undergraduate Human Services courses at the University of Colorado: Colorado Springs (UCCS); I began teaching there in 2014. Also in 2014, I started a full-time adjunct teaching position at Red Rocks Community College where I taught dozens of psychology courses as well.
In addition to teaching, I've held a private practice in Denver since 2015. In my private practice I've done Play Therapy with children with anxiety, depression and trauma, worked with couples and done individual therapy for teens and adults struggling with various mental health concerns. Additionally I have worked in rural mental health and provided in-home therapy for voluntary and court mandated parents, families and children. Some of my other experiences include testifying for the Colorado House of Representatives to help pass a bill on cyber-bullying and facilitating a focus group on high school retention rates for the Colorado Department of Education.
I received my B.A. in Chemistry and minor in Studio Art from Westmont College, Santa Barbara, in 2009. After working as a college admission counselor for two years, I returned to Colorado and completed my MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs in 2014 and was awarded the Most Outstanding Graduate Student for our department. I'm currently working on my PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision from the University of Northern Colorado (UNCO) and hope to finish in 2022 with a minor in Statistics and an emphasis in Play Therapy. While at UNCO I've co-taught our Foundations of Play Therapy course.
I'm also teaching undergraduate Human Services courses at the University of Colorado: Colorado Springs (UCCS); I began teaching there in 2014. Also in 2014, I started a full-time adjunct teaching position at Red Rocks Community College where I taught dozens of psychology courses as well.
In addition to teaching, I've held a private practice in Denver since 2015. In my private practice I've done Play Therapy with children with anxiety, depression and trauma, worked with couples and done individual therapy for teens and adults struggling with various mental health concerns. Additionally I have worked in rural mental health and provided in-home therapy for voluntary and court mandated parents, families and children. Some of my other experiences include testifying for the Colorado House of Representatives to help pass a bill on cyber-bullying and facilitating a focus group on high school retention rates for the Colorado Department of Education.
But who REALLY AM I?!
I know finding a therapist for oneself can be a difficult process and especially for a child. So hopefully you'll get to know me a little better to see if I might be a fit for your child! My approach to children comes from a place of curiosity, understanding and empathy. I found in my own childhood that I struggled a lot with being understood so I spent most of it trying to make people like me for the things I did and not who I really was (ironic that I have a statement about what I've done above). I felt a lot of pain and isolation as a kid even though people looked at me from the outside and thought I was a great, competent, well-liked, child. Internally I felt like a fraud, however. Through years and years of support from family and friends, counselors, mentor, etc. I decided to live more authentically and through my own truth.
These experiences and this decision was the catalyst to me beginning my career as a mental health professional. I believe children and adults are striving for wholeness, authenticity and love and sometimes get very stuck along the way. Behaviors, ways of perceiving the world, thoughts, etc. may get in the way of that process, therefore my desire is to provide a space of acceptance, empathy and genuineness in which people can get back on track. In the counseling world, this philosophy is often called person or child-centered. It is the person who works through their own growth and the therapist is a fellow traveler in that journey. How empowering, right?!
These experiences and this decision was the catalyst to me beginning my career as a mental health professional. I believe children and adults are striving for wholeness, authenticity and love and sometimes get very stuck along the way. Behaviors, ways of perceiving the world, thoughts, etc. may get in the way of that process, therefore my desire is to provide a space of acceptance, empathy and genuineness in which people can get back on track. In the counseling world, this philosophy is often called person or child-centered. It is the person who works through their own growth and the therapist is a fellow traveler in that journey. How empowering, right?!