Spiritually led. I attempted to major in Psychology at the University of Georgia, but had an extremely hard time passing Psych 101! I guess I was too early in my personal growth and discovery journey to know there were different schools of Psychology. Rather than switching universities to find a better fit, I changed my major to Child and Family Development. Looking back, I see how that makes total sense for me. Families fascinate me—I mean, they are the “herd” of our species and we are hard wired to be a part of them whether we want to be or not. I see intergenerational trauma as something many sensitive people were chosen by their ancestors to heal. Development fascinates me—not only child development, but personal development, consciousness development, collective societal development, spiral dynamics…I still felt a huge need to incorporate more of the human experience within psychology, leading me to the University of West Georgia, where I earned my Master’s Degree in 2003 in Humanistic and Transpersonal Psychology. Here I finally found the words to articulate my experiences more clearly. Humanistic Psychology offers a different approach to mental health by seeing every human as a unique individual with their own free will, self-analysis and self-actualization. I believe every individual has the capacity for expanded awareness and personal truth, even if it sometimes gets buried by conditioning, confusion or anxiety. By using that lens in therapy, awareness and compassion for oneself are more easily accessible. Expansion follows, allowing for more curiosity and openness, which provides a catalyst for change, growth, self-inquiry, and self-discovery. My path has been anything but linear. I didn’t think I would pursue the counseling profession because I have always felt stifled by the medical model and requirement to diagnose someone. As Glennon Doyle wrote in her book Untamed, “Sometimes the only thing wrong with us is the belief something is wrong with us.” During 2003-2015 I opened and owned a coffee shop, got married, co-owned a Yoga Studio, opened a restaurant/bar, had two kids (one hospital birth, one homebirth), got divorced, worked in-home with families that were involved in the foster care system, and then took the National Counselor’s Exam over 10 years after graduating with my Master’s. It wasn’t long at all after getting my supervision and full license that I opened my private practice. Continuing to learn has always been important to me. My commitment to integrating conventional, contemplative, and creative approaches to wellbeing keeps me always learning more! Additional trainings I’ve received are: Tallapoosa Center for Inner Arts Hatha Yoga Teacher Training, 2003. Psych-K, 2013, Emotional Freedom Technique, Level 1, 2015. Positive Discipline Parent Educator, 2017. Applied Astrology with Debra Silverman, Levels 1&2, 2018. Bowen Family Systems, 2021. I am also a proud member of The Association for Entheogenic Practitioners. This range and depth of experience has imprinted me with a profound regard for the spectrum of ways different people suffer from a range of mental distress. It has also instilled in me a certainty about the human capacity to face and to go beyond suffering. Beyond my formal training, my work with clients is informed by dedicated personal reflection and practice, meditation, and yoga. In reality, I believe we are all just making our best guess at how to avoid pain until we realize our reactions might not be serving us and choose to do the self-work required to consciously respond instead.
