PHILOSOPHY OF CARE

Healing is a Journey for our Wholeness.

Sometimes we intentionally set out on that
journey, but most often we undertake it when something in our life stirs us up, knocks us
around, and compels us in some way onto the path. We want relief from what troubles
us and seek a kind of peace. We long for a deeper understanding or acceptance of
what’s happened or is still happening in our lives that we can’t control.
Some challenges motivate us to change and grow, while others overwhelm us like a
flood. We must stretch and shift to find the value in our struggles, which opens up the
possibility for transformation. If we work with it, out of the fire arises something
unexpected that can move us toward harmony with our new selves. We can grow and
become who we are in our wholeness.
After working with people for many years, as well as in my own journey, I’ve come to
believe there is a natural healing tendency within us all. I trust the healing response as a
deeper wisdom that guides the process, like the wisdom in the acorn that knows how to
become the oak tree if given the chance to grow. It’s in the background in our lives all
the time, trying to help us and bring us to our wholeness, if only we work with it with
curiosity and compassion. Being human, we are also full of contradictions and
paradoxical life experiences that can disturb or trouble us at times, and even come out
as symptoms or compulsions in unwanted ways. I see counseling as a space for
understanding these experiences, for tuning in, and for supporting the healing process
so it can play its part in the immediate challenges a person is facing and the stage of life
they are passing through.
I’ve been told by many patients and colleagues along the way that I have a calming
presence and a unique way of understanding. I see the counselor’s role as bringing

awareness, knowledge, skill, and heart to the patient’s work and honoring the whole-
person or their whole-relationship while helping them understand their struggles and

symptoms in the context of their whole-being. I can provide perspective, clinical insights
and experienced methods that can help people explore all aspects of themselves and
their lives. I see the essential tasks for those coming in for counseling as being open,
being willing to trust and try in new ways, being invested in their own growth and
healing, and being compassionate with themselves along the way. In counseling
together, we can create and hold a safe space in sessions. Talking, listening, sharing,
feeling, understanding, challenging old perceptions, developing new strengths, and
dreaming forward; these are all part of the therapy and the Healing Journey for
Wholeness.

EDUCATION AND LICENSING
Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor; State of Utah; 2006
Certificate in Drug and Alcohol Abuse Counseling and Treatment; University of Utah
Graduate School of Social Work; 1998
Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology; University of Utah Department of
Educational Psychology; 2003
Certificate in Process-Oriented Psychology; Processwork Institute of Oregon; 2011
CLINICAL EXPERIENCE
I have over 25 years experience counseling and working in the field of mental health in
Utah. I also have my own life experiences and healing journey that drew me into this
work and trying to help people with their journeys as well.
My work began in the summer of 1997 when I was working on my undergraduate
degree. I worked for a year with Project Reality, an outpatient substance abuse
treatment center and half-way house in downtown Salt Lake for low income/high risk
adult men and women dealing with severe addictions. I later did a counseling internship
with Volunteers of America with the same population and I saw first hand the
devastation in the lives of people caught up in one of the worst epidemics of our times.
Around the same time I worked for two years at Highland Ridge Hospital as a Frontline
Counselor on a national crisis helpline dealing with suicide interventions with callers,
referring people to treatment services, and also providing traumatic incident support for
railroad employees. While completing my undergraduate and my graduate studies I
worked for four years as a Psychiatric Technician on the psychiatric ward at the
University of Utah Medical Center where I provided care and support for people going
through a wide range of extreme states and suffering with mental health crises. During
my graduate work I completed a clinical practicum with the University Counseling
Center working with college students and a clinical internship with Valley Mental Health
working with troubled youth and their families.
After graduate school I went to work for the Cirque Lodge in Sundance, which is
considered to be one of the top residential treatment centers for dual diagnosis patients
dealing with addiction and mental health issues. There I completed my post-graduate
internship and worked for over ten years as a primary therapist in coordination with the
multidisciplinary treatment team. I provided assessment, treatment, and care for
individuals, groups, couples, and families. I created, facilitated, and continue to provide
group workshops focused on a variety of themes including: Centering and Healing, Vital
Spiritual Experiences, Resentment and Forgiveness, Going through Death and Change,
Changing Your Reality, Relating with Your Dreaming, Finding Beauty in the Moment,
Transitions through Life, Making Amends, and Finding Acceptance as well as Walking a
Path of Heart. In 2012 I felt drawn toward outpatient mental health work and so I

became involved with the Alpine Center for Personal Growth for over five years as a
Clinical Counselor doing individual and couples’ therapy. My focus was helping people
with a variety of mental health issues and life challenges including anxiety, depression,
addictions, relationships, grief, and understanding their dreams among other things. I
have also presented Workshops for the C.G. Jung Psychological Society of Utah and
for the community on topics including Jungian Psychology Approaches to
Understanding and Working with Addictions (2016) and the Creation and Use of
Mandalas in Treatment as a Symbol of Inner Wholeness and Healing (2017), and
Transitions Across the Life Span Journey.
I have currently been working for Corner Canyon Counseling since 2018 doing
individual counseling with adult clients and at this stage in my career I feel that I am, in
a grateful way, doing the work I felt called to and have set out to do from the beginning,
and hope to be doing for many years to come.
AREAS OF SPECIALTY
Anxiety, Obsessive Thoughts, Stress, Panic and Overwhelm
Depression, Cycling Moods and Emotion Regulation
Confused or Scattered Sense of Self
Addictions and Recovery
Relationship Strains, Boundaries and Communication
Trauma, Grief, Loss and Change
Spiritual and Existential Crises
Growth, Development and Phase of Life Transitions
Dreams, Meditation, Self-Exploration and Transformation
TRAINED IN
Process-Oriented Psychology and Processwork
Jungian Psychology Approaches
Client-Centered Counseling
Cognitive and Dialectical Behavioral Techniques
Existential Counseling
Mindfulness Methods and Meditation
Substance Abuse Counseling
12-Step Recovery-Based Counseling
Life-Span Development Perspectives

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
Member of the American Counseling Association since 2003
Member of the Processwork training community of Portland, Oregon

POPULATION SERVED
Adults Ages 20 and Older (English speaking)
No court ordered clients
No disability evaluations
No ESA letters
To work with me clients must be self-motivated, able to manage their behavior between
sessions and willing to work for their own healing and wholeness one day at a time.