Counseling with real-life understanding:

A therapist who gets it

I'm therapist who gets it.

I have lots of life experience that gives me a foundation for psychotherapy and coaching. It is important to me to provide counseling with real-life understanding rather than depend solely on theory. Life is real, so therapy should be too. My life experience has taken me places I don't wish on anyone. However, If you are in a difficult place, it can be nice to know the person your talking to gets what it's like to be where you are. 

I've been there. I've come through and I'm still here. I've made it through many of life's challenges and am still in the midst of some of them. 

When I was fifteen, I lived through the trauma and grief of losing my mother to suicide. I have lost two more family members to suicide since then.

I also have life experience in a long-term marriage, parenting two children to adulthood, supporting family members with mental illness, and caregiving for elderly family members.

I suffered a debilitating brain injury later in my life and had to work to get my life back. I am now able to function and live my life to the fullest.

Years later, I was diagnosed with a rare chronic illness. It started to explain some aspects of my life and led me to discover more about how society works. I've experienced many of the problems in the medical system. I've been dismissed by healthcare professionals and have traversed many barriers to healthcare.

I live with several chronic illnesses. Some are thought of as rare, but seem to be less rare than researchers once thought - - Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (EDS), Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (PoTS), Mast Cell Activation Syndrome or Mast Cell Disease (MCAS or MCD), Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, and a few others that come along with these. While I am still dealing with my chronic illnesses, I live the life the way I want.

My life experience and counseling with real-life understanding

I have been married to the same wonderful man since 1984, and we have raised two amazing children together. We have also started and run several businesses together. We moved to Nevada County about 27 years ago to live in the kind of rural environment we enjoy.

I enjoy working with clients of all ages and backgrounds. I am neurodiversity, LGBTQ+, and BIPOC affirmative. I have a neurodiverse ADHD brain and understand the benefits and challenges of being neurodiverse. I love coming up with creative and unique solutions with my clients. 

My clients often comment that counseling with real-life understanding is extremely helpful to them. They enjoy working with a therapist who gets it. I truly understand what it's like to live with difficult circumstances. My clients don't need to go into detail about their chronic pain unless they want to. I live with it, too. I understand what it’s like.

How I can support you

I developed many of my specialties through life experience and have added formal training. I love learning. Doing research and reading journal articles is engaging and fun for me. I can start looking into one thing that leads to another, that leads to another, and have an adventure. 

Other specialties I have learned by working in residential and outpatient substance use treatment and community mental health. I worked with a wide variety of clients with different needs, goals, challenges, and desires. I found additional training to take my knowledge deeper. 

I have taken what I've learned from my relationship, added client experiences with couples therapy training, and developed an expertise in relationship and couples therapy. Young couples appreciate my perspective and couples in long-term relationships appreciate working with a therapist with life experiences similar to theirs. Couples in conflict appreciate my viewpoint and ability to find common ground while keeping them focused and treating them equally. These same things resonate with those working on building a cooperative co-parenting relationship.

When your relationship is going through something, and you need support, it’s nice to work with a therapist who can hold hope and see your strengths when you are unsure. You can trust that I will believe in your relationship and be committed to sticking with both of you to find solutions that meet your needs. I know it’s possible to grow and change individually and maintain a healthy relationship. 

My main specialties are:

Neurodiversity

chronic Illness and pain

relationships

parenting

co-parenting

addictions

I am particularly experienced at addressing the things that commonly co-occur with my main specialties :

communication

stress

anxiety

depression

suicidal thoughts

self-harm

self-esteem

Autism

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Pathological demand avoidance (PDA)

polyamorous relationships

grief and loss

supporting family members with mental illness

recovery from abusive relationships

caregiving

medical trauma

addiction recovery

work-life balance

creating habits

calming

time management