ABOUT ME
Before I became a therapist I thought I might be a writer, or maybe a journalist. I would describe myself as bookish, sensitive to the pains of existence, at times angsty, and that I care very deeply. I love to read and chase unleashed dogs down forgotten old forrest service roads. I’ve been in therapy throughout my life, there was a period in my 20s where I saw the same therapist for over 9 years. Looking back, this relationship was one of the most formative in becoming a therapist myself.
Therapy is relational. We’re both bringing our humanness into it and I want you to have a sense of who I am. I too have felt how hard it is to be human, while also often experiencing the highest moments in human life as fleeting and marked by the unexpected. My own personal approach and work as a therapist is grounded in humanistic psychology, meaning I won’t see you as a problem to be solved, but as human - capable and complex. I tend to look at personal difficulties in light of new experiences that want to happen, just haven’t yet. I see the work as supporting you so the right kind of internal information becomes available, where together we experiment with different ideas and movement, while also looking for patterns that are limiting. In this way we can then consider new choices, insights and resources, instead of getting stuck in the same place over and over again. Something I’m always working at in all my relationships is showing up with an open-hearted presence. As a parent of a 4 year-old, this is something I’m constantly observing and often reminded.
I graduated from the University of Toronto in 2013, with a Masters in Social Work, specializing in Advanced Clinical Practice in Mental Health. I’ve been practicing clinical social work in hospitals, residential treatment centers, community mental health and private practice for the past 10+ years. I’ve worked in remote Canadian territories, urban indigenous communities, and here in Portland since 2017. I’m a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) and also do contract work as an Adherence Rater for the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) Phase 3 PTSD and MDMA-assisted therapy trials.
If any of this resonates, then let’s connect and talk more about next steps, what you need and how we could work together.
