EMDR Play Therapist & Education Consulting

LGBTQ2IA+ Support

I am committed to supporting individuals across the LGBTQ2IA+ spectrum as an active ally and advocate. This practice affirms diverse sexual orientations, gender identities, gender expressions, and relationship structures. I recognize that many LGBTQ2IA+ individuals have experienced marginalization, misunderstanding, or harm within healthcare and social systems, and I strive to provide services that are respectful, culturally responsive, and grounded in dignity and self-determination.

This is a safe, welcoming space where clients are respected for who they are, without judgment, assumptions, or pressure to educate. Clients are encouraged to use the names, pronouns, and identities that feel most authentic to them. Safety here means emotional safety, relational safety, and clinical integrity, with care taken to honor lived experience, intersectionality, and the unique stressors that LGBTQ2IA+ individuals may face.

My services are informed by evidence-based, trauma-responsive, and affirming practices that support exploration, healing, and personal growth. Whether clients are seeking support related to identity, relationships, mental health, neurodiversity, life transitions, or broader well-being, services are tailored to each individual’s goals and strengths. Allyship in this space is not symbolic, it is reflected in ongoing learning, ethical practice, and a commitment to providing care that is both affirming and clinically sound.

Psychosis & Schizophrenia Treatment

Living with schizophrenia can be challenging, but with the right support, individuals can effectively manage symptoms and improve their quality of life. Providing a safe, structured, and understanding environment is essential in addressing the complexities of these conditions. Individuals may also experience related challenges such as psychosis, dissociation, and hallucinations, which can significantly impact daily functioning, relationships, and overall well-being.

These symptoms are often influenced by stress, trauma, and environmental factors, and may intensify without appropriate support. Treatment typically involves a combination of therapeutic intervention, medication when indicated, and lifestyle adjustments. In my clinical work, I utilize Dr. Paul Miller’s approach to treating schizophrenia and psychosis through EMDR, which focuses on resolving underlying trauma and dysregulation contributing to symptom presentation. This approach has yielded strong clinical outcomes, supporting symptom reduction and increased stability.

With appropriate, individualized treatment and support, many individuals develop effective coping strategies, experience significant symptom improvement, and in some cases are able to reduce or eliminate reliance on medication under proper medical supervision.

Veterans/Civilian Contractor Support

This service is specifically designed for military veterans and civilian contractors, with a deep understanding of the unique experiences that come with service. Whether you're working through readjustment to civilian life, PTSD, depression, anxiety, substance use, or relationship challenges, you don't have to face any of it alone. These aren't just clinical terms here, they're real, human experiences that deserve to be met with genuine understanding.

Transitioning from military to civilian life can be tough. We'll work together to navigate the challenges you're facing, whether it's adjusting to a new routine, finding a sense of purpose, or building a support network. My goal is to assist in your pathway that feels right and provide assistance and support to process your experiences and emotions, and to help you find your footing in civilian life again.

Healing looks different for everyone, which is why care is tailored to what works best for you. EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is one of the approaches used, a gentle, evidence-based method that helps the nervous system process and release what it's been holding onto, so that past experiences no longer have to define the present. Parts work, rooted in Internal Family Systems, is another layer of that process. It works from an understanding the whole person, while different parts of one's inner experience may be struggling to find a blanance and connection. Together, we explore those parts with curiosity and compassion, helping each one find its footing.

Adoption, Kinship, Donor-Conceived, Reunification, Surrogacy Counseling

This specialized form of therapy is designed for individuals and families impacted by adoption, kinship care, international adoption, foster care, donor conception, and other non-traditional family-building experiences. Integrating family systems principles and the neurobiology of attachment, this approach recognizes that each family member's experiences, relationships, and developmental journey influence the functioning of the entire family system.

Therapy provides a supportive space to explore experiences, questions, losses, and complexities that may have gone unanswered, while fostering a deeper understanding of the emotional, psychological, social, and relational needs of all family members. Particular attention is given to how attachment experiences, family narratives, separation, grief and loss, identity development, cultural connections, and life transitions shape individual and family functioning over time.

From a family systems perspective, challenges are understood within the broader context of family relationships, communication patterns, intergenerational experiences, and social and cultural influences. Rather than focusing solely on an individual family member, therapy seeks to strengthen understanding, connection, and resilience throughout the family system.

Clients benefit from support in areas such as identity formation, attachment and relationships, emotional processing, belonging, cultural and racial identity development, genealogical curiosity, reunification and search-related experiences, and the integration of personal and family histories. Therapy supports individuals and families in exploring and reconciling their sense of self, cultural heritage, biological and social connections, and lived experiences while fostering secure relationships, emotional well-being, and a cohesive family narrative.

Cult Recovery Therapy

My approach to working with individuals who have experienced life within cults or the troubled teen industry is grounded in trauma-informed, person-centered care. Having worked within the troubled teen industry and possessing personal insight into the psychological dynamics of high-control systems, I bring both professional and lived understanding to this work. Survivors of these environments often carry profound wounds related to identity disruption, coercive control, shame, chronic fear, and learned dependency.

Within this specialized therapeutic work, clients are supported in rebuilding autonomy, reconnecting with their authentic sense of self, and learning to trust their internal voice again. Therapy focuses on exploring the emotional and psychological impact of these experiences while gently identifying and loosening internalized conditioning. Emphasis is placed on fostering self-regulation, empowerment, and values-based decision-making, allowing clients to move beyond survival and reclaim a grounded sense of agency, purpose, and belonging.

Interventions are collaborative, non-coercive, and tailored to each individual’s needs and pace. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is integrated to support the processing of traumatic memories and physiological responses, helping reduce distress while restoring a sense of choice and mastery. Parts work is also incorporated to compassionately address fragmented or protective internal systems shaped by prolonged control or trauma. Additional modalities may include play-based interventions, mindfulness practices, and psychoeducation to strengthen internal resources and resilience. The overarching goal is to support healing that honors autonomy and assists clients in reconstructing a healthy, self-directed identity beyond the influence of any controlling system or ideology.

Victim Support Trauma Recovery

My clinical work includes extensive experience supporting individuals who have experienced trauma resulting from financial fraud, romance scams, identity theft, and other forms of psychological, financial, sex abuse, and interpersonal exploitation. These experiences often result in profound betrayal trauma, complicated grief, anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress, shame, loss of trust, and disruptions in identity and relationships. I incorporate EMDR, parts work, attachment-focused interventions, and trauma-informed approaches to help individuals process traumatic experiences, regulate overwhelming emotions, rebuild a sense of safety, and restore trust in themselves and others.

With children, I utilize psychotherapeutic play therapy to provide developmentally appropriate interventions that allow traumatic experiences to be processed symbolically and safely when verbal expression is limited or overwhelming. This approach emphasizes emotional regulation, restoration of safety, and the gradual integration of difficult experiences while remaining attuned to the child's developmental level, pace, consent, and relational needs. Treatment focuses on reducing trauma-related symptoms, strengthening adaptive coping skills, rebuilding trust, and fostering healthy emotional expression and resilience.

With adolescents and adults, I integrate EMDR and parts work to address the complex neurobiological, emotional, and psychological effects of trauma, betrayal, exploitation, and significant loss. These approaches are particularly effective in treating the lingering effects of financial fraud, romance scams, identity theft, coercive manipulation, and other forms of exploitation that frequently leave survivors struggling with intrusive memories, hypervigilance, self-blame, grief, and diminished self-worth. EMDR supports the adaptive processing of traumatic memories and reduces the emotional intensity associated with unresolved experiences. Parts work helps individuals develop compassion for the protective adaptations that emerged in response to trauma while fostering greater emotional integration, self-understanding, and resilience.

Substance-Use/Abuse Addiction Therapy

Addiction is a complex and multifaceted experience that cannot be fully understood by focusing solely on substance use itself. Contemporary research demonstrates that biological, psychological, social, developmental, and environmental factors all contribute to the development and maintenance of addictive behaviors. Effective treatment requires a comprehensive understanding of the individual within the context of their relationships, family system, and broader environment.

My approach integrates family systems therapy, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), attachment-based interventions, and parts work to address the underlying factors contributing to substance use and related challenges. Using a family systems perspective, addiction is viewed not as an isolated problem within one individual, but as a concern that both affects and is influenced by family relationships, communication patterns, attachment experiences, and environmental stressors.

EMDR may be utilized to help clients process traumatic experiences, adverse life events, and distressing memories that continue to influence present-day functioning. Parts work is incorporated to help clients understand and develop compassion for the different aspects of themselves that may have emerged to manage pain, protect against vulnerability, cope with overwhelming emotions, or navigate difficult life experiences. Rather than viewing these parts as problematic, therapy seeks to understand their purpose and facilitate greater internal awareness, balance, and integration.

Treatment focuses on understanding the function substance use serves, identifying contributing factors such as trauma, attachment disruptions, emotional distress, neurodevelopmental differences, family conflict, or unmet relational needs, and developing healthier strategies to meet those needs. By addressing both the individual's internal experiences and the broader systems that influence functioning, therapy supports meaningful and lasting change.

Contrary to outdated beliefs that addiction is a lifelong sentence, recovery and healing are possible. Through evidence-based, individualized, trauma-informed, and family-centered approaches, individuals and families can strengthen relationships, improve overall functioning, develop resilience, and create lives that align with their values and goals.