While my work as a therapist is guided by formal studies and training, it also draws from my own unique path and experiences. Personally and professionally, I’ve been fortunate to travel, make connections with people from all walks of life, and to live in different communities. A common thread throughout my life has been a curiosity around spirituality, existential inquiry, health and healing.
Before becoming a therapist, I worked in the criminal justice, non-profit and medical education fields for nearly two decades. Having experience in the corporate realm has given me a lived experience of the pressure, stress and overwhelm that can lead to burnout on all levels. Encouragement from friends and mentors, a longing to be of more direct service and frequently being told “you would make a great therapist”, lead me to this career shift and ultimately to my becoming a psychotherapist. I am grateful to have found work that I love, and to support others in walking their unique paths.
I hold a Masters of Arts in Counseling from St. Edwards University in Austin. During my early training as a therapist I worked at Hospice Austin as a bereavement counselor supporting clients through grief and loss. Additionally I spent some time counseling incarcerated youth and their families at a government facility. Prior to opening my private practice I worked with indiviudals at a counseling agency offering support with a variety of issues including anxiety, depression, stress, trauma, relationships and transitions.
Outside of the being a therapist, I enjoy practicing yoga and meditation in many forms, gardening, dancing, travel and getting lost in nature. What I have found to be inspiration– is appreciation and empathy for differing human experiences as well as a continuous discovery of the things that connect us all.
ONGOING PROFESSIONAL TRAINING & DEVELOPMENT
- Ongoing Bi-Weekly Peer Consultation Group – April 2021 – Present
- Ongoing Therapeutic exploration and work around Inherited/Intergenerational Trauma – January 2020 – Present
PAST PROFESSIONAL TRAINING
- Treating Trauma: The ACT Matrix, Simple Practice CE Program Jacob Martinez, MA, LMFT – October 2024
- Comprehensive Resource Model (CRM) Adult Self two-day OnlineTraining – Elisa Elkin Cleary LICSW, NPT-C – July 2024
- Comprehensive Resource Model (CRM) Mapping the Dissociative States for the Healing of Trauma – Lisa Schwartz MEd, LPC – March 2024
- Ancestral Medicine: Writing with the Dead: Telling Our Ancestral Stories – Rachel Jamison Webster and Daniel Foor – January-February 2024
- Chaos to Calm Workshop: The Missing Piece of ADHD Treatment – one day Training – Austin,TX Anita Robertson LCSW and Carrie Comstock OTR, MOT – November 2023
- Comprehensive Resource Model (CRM) One Day Online Core Self Training – Lisa Schwartz MEd, LPC – November 2023
- Comprehensive Resource Model (CRM) 4 Day Online Basic Training for the Healing of Trauma- Lisa Schwartz MEd, LPC – June 2023
- Ethics for Texas LPCs, Leo Christie, PhD. Professional Development Resources, March 2023
- Grounding the Gifts of Healing from an Animist, Movement, Developmental and Polyvagal Lens bi-weekly training group – Eamon Willow Davies – April 2023-December 2023
- Nurturing the Heart with the Brain in Mind: Advanced Training in Interpersonal Neurobiology with Bonnie Badenock PhD, LMFT hosted by PCPSI January-December 2022
- EMDR Advanced – Protocols for Early Intervention & Ongoing Traumatic Stress – Ignacio (Nacho) Jarero, Ph.D., Ed, D. – Austin TX – January 2022
- Jung Society of Austin – Tracing the Journey to Wholeness: The Path of Creativity and Individuation, Melinda Rothouse, PhD, July – September 2021
- Trauma Treatment Certification Workshop: EMDR, CBT and Somatic Based Interventions to Move Clients from Surviving to Thriving, PESI, Jennifer Sweeton PsyD, MS, MA – June 2021
- Master of Arts in Counseling, Licensed Professional Counselor
St. Edward’s University, Austin, TX - Course in Trauma Informed Care June 2017
- EMDR Basic Training, Rick Levinson LCSW, Austin TX, June 2016
- Hospice Austin – Bereavement Group Facilitator Training , 2016
- An On-line Training Certification Course for Trauma-Focused Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, Medical University of South Carolina, November 2015
- 40 Hour Meditation Training Certification, Austin TX 2013
- University of Spiritual Healing and Sufism, Pope Valley, California
- Bachelor of Science Criminal Justice -University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee