My background.

I’m from Michigan, where I got my Bachelors of Social Work in 2005 from Siena Heights University. While in college, I was a dual sport athlete, a youth mentor, a volunteer at the Boys and Girls Club, and was an intern at a local foster care agency. It was working in the foster care system, that my really opened my eyes to how important social work was in impacting others lives. For my final senior project, I spent time volunteering at a residential treatment program for adjudicated female teens and focused on the issues they had in accessing proper nutritional health, wellness, and physical activities. It was an effort to bring attention and advocacy for the female teens to get better care while they adjudicated.

In 2006, I moved to Miami, Florida for graduate school and received my Masters of Social Work from Barry University. While in graduate school, I worked with hurricane Wilma survivors, many who were displaced from their homes and living in FEMA trailers. I provided crisis counseling, ran support groups for children/families, and connected people to the resources they needed to rebuild their lives after the devestation of a natural disaster.

For the next several years of my career, I worked in community mental health in south Florida as a child and family therapist. Much of my work was home based treatment and crisis care. I also worked as a research therapist on a published study that created and utilized a computerized Cognitive Behavioral Therapy program for children who struggled with anxiety, which was published by the University of South Florida (USF) Tampa St Pete. I was involved in supporting local churches and ministries with providing psychoeducation on various mental health related issues.

In 2012, I began working in Colorado providing therapeutic care for adults struggling with various severe mental health and addiction issues. I was apart of a trauma informed care initiative that helped to improve access to quality mental health care in Colorado, especially in the Boulder and Denver areas.

In 2015, I returned to Michigan to work in hospice care in the Detroit metro area. I provided care for individuals and families navigating end-of-life issues, chronic pain, disease process, and grief/loss. I received the Rising Star award in 2016 for supporting the communities of Detroit.

I moved to Arizona in 2019 and worked in holisitic collaborative settings providing therapy for those struggling with chronic pain, addiction, and complex trauma. I also became involved in helping those impacted by the opioid epidemic by collaborating in building a new program at a major hospital system in Phoenix that helped provide treatment for pregnant women who struggled with alcohol and substance use.

In these latter years of my career I work in private practice, where I continue to provide therapy for adults in Arizona. I really enjoy private practice and recognize the privledge of being apart of my client’s lives in such unique ways. I also enjoy providing training and consultation for other therapists here in Arizona and around the country. I embrace the opportunities to cheer on my colleagues and support the development of their projects. I also really value learning and have made that a consistant habit in my life. I consider it joy to seek truth.