My entire adult professional life I wanted to be a counselor, but it took me more than 15 years to return to school for my Master’s degree. From the start of my career until now, I worked with mentally handicapped adults, foster children, foster parents, college students, and families in crisis. I currently work as a therapist and my caseload is primarily women with trauma histories, families, and couples. I love my role as a counselor, and am focused on my practice, rather than on becoming an academic. I am a passionate and practical clinician first, and a professor second. This shapes my classroom.
I feel it is important for students to go into the field with as much internalized knowledge as possible. I expect students to dig deep and work to understand family systems, attachment, and trauma at a personal level that will inform their professional work. This is a gift to both the students and their future clients. This internalized knowledge base will allow students to deeply conceptualizing a large variety of complicated client presentations. This is an important foundation of becoming a good professional counselor.
Professionally, I know what it is like to be under-resourced in challenging situations. My classroom is really practical. I want students to walk out of class with tools they can use the following week in their practicums and internships. I have created a library of interventions that I am so glad to pass along to future School, Mental Health, and Marriage and Family counselors who take my course. Classroom time that is not spent on psychoeducation will be spent on learning and practicing the daily language and interventions of working with individuals, couples, and families.
I am nourished by beauty, whether spending time in nature on walks or hikes, decorating my home, hand crafting items, or cooking tasty, nourishing meals. I love broadening my scope of understanding in avid readership of juvenile fiction and other books. I enjoy competition and athleticism of pickleball. I benefit so much from the grounding influence of my walk with God, regular church attendance, my church people, and good friendship.
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