Helping people find freedom through curiosity, compassion, and evidence-based care.
About Me
I've always been fascinated by people.
Not by diagnoses or labels, but by the stories beneath them. By the ways we learn to protect ourselves, the patterns we develop to make sense of our experiences, and the remarkable ways we adapt in order to survive. What often looks like anxiety, perfectionism, conflict, or emotional distance is rarely the whole story. More often, it's an attempt to find safety, certainty, or connection.
That curiosity is what led me to become a therapist.
My path to this work has been shaped by both personal and professional experiences. People close to me have lived with obsessive-compulsive disorder, giving me a deep appreciation for the courage it takes to face uncertainty every day. Before entering the therapy field, I spent years working as a professional family caregiver, where I witnessed firsthand how anxiety, OCD, and life stress affect not only individuals, but entire family systems. Those experiences continue to influence the way I think about healing, with compassion for the individual and an awareness of the relationships that surround them.
Today, I'm an Associate Marriage and Family Therapist working toward licensure. My clinical training includes Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and Internal Family Systems (IFS). I've also pursued advanced learning in relationships, including attending Esther Perel's workshop on exploring modern relationships in 2019. Her work reinforced something I already believed: our relationships with others and with ourselves are often where both our deepest wounds and our greatest opportunities for growth exist.
Long before graduate school, I was drawn to mindfulness and contemplative practices. My senior capstone at Portland State University focused on mindfulness and meditation, an experience that continues to shape the way I approach therapy today. I believe healing begins when we can slow down enough to notice ourselves with curiosity instead of criticism.
My Story
Therapy isn't about fitting people into a model. It's about understanding the person sitting in front of me.
My work is grounded in a structural and systemic framework, while integrating evidence-based approaches. More than any one modality, I believe therapy should be responsive to the unique person in front of me. Every client brings their own history, relationships, strengths, and hopes for change, and I see therapy as a collaborative process of discovering what will be most meaningful and effective for you.
I don't believe therapy is something a therapist does to someone. I believe it is something we create together.
The therapeutic relationship itself becomes a place to slow down, explore what has shaped you, understand the patterns that may no longer serve you, and discover new ways of relating to yourself, to the people you love, and to the life you want to build.
Some clients come to therapy hoping to quiet relentless anxiety. Others want to strengthen relationships, navigate life transitions, or better understand themselves. Whatever brings you here, my hope is that you'll find a space where you don't have to perform, have all the answers, or carry everything alone.
I believe lasting change doesn't happen because someone tells you what to do. It happens because you begin to see yourself differently, with greater compassion, greater awareness, and greater freedom to choose how you move forward.
Helping people discover that freedom is one of the greatest privileges of my work.