My professional life took many turns before I found my way to clinical psychology. Like many others, I walked a variety of paths, for a variety of reasons, before finally pursing my passion. I was a technical writer, writing about server security and complex line-of-business software integration; a program manager; a basic science researcher; and a research nutritionist.
Even as a child, I was always interested in how the things we do, such as the food we eat and movement we engage in, influence our health and well-being. After leaving the computer industry, I studied nutrition at Bastyr University. There, I took a basic clinical skills class. In this class, practicing what we learned, a part of my soul awoke. I knew then that working with people in an authentic and genuine way to navigate their most challenging issues was deeply meaningful work for me, and I changed my life to pursue this passion.
I went to my advisor and changed from a graduate program that focused on nutrition from a research perspective to Bastyr's unique program that combines nutrition and clinical health psychology. I completed that program and then went on the the University of Iowa where I earned a Doctor of Philosophy from the Psychological and Brain Sciences department, with an emphasis in Clinical Health Psychology.
While I was working on my PhD, I also became a Forrest Yoga teacher. Forrest Yoga is a style of yoga that emphasizes using the practice to heal modern injuries, such as back, neck, shoulder, and wrist pain. It also focuses on connecting students with their bodies through mindful breathing and relatively slow sequencing. I have taught yoga since 2012, and focused on how yoga can help alleviate chronic pain. I designed an 8-week Forrest Yoga series for my dissertation and found reductions in how pain interfered with daily life and fear of movement.
At the University of Iowa, I received extensive training in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Motivational Interviewing, as well as Interpersonal Therapy for Depression and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). As a result, my clinical approach is generally third-wave cognitive behavioral therapy with a strong humanistic influence.
This means that I believe change happens when we are unconditionally and authentically accepted, where we can look together at very uncomfortable experiences, such as feeling stuck, ashamed, sad, worried, and angry, and we can practice a variety of skills, including mindfulness, to help live into a life of purpose, meaning and joy.
I completed my pre-doctoral internship at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System, American Lake division. There, I worked with primary care physicians and was the first mental health professional many of the Veterans had ever worked with. I also worked in telemental health, providing online therapy to Veterans located throughout the state, as well as in the exemplary, CARF-accredited, multi-disciplinary pain clinic.
I have seen clients for over a decade and I have worked with people from all walks of life: people living in the community, students in college, Veterans, adults exploring their gender identity, and people struggling with acute and chronic health conditions, such as cancer, HIV and AIDS, diabetes, chronic pain, obesity, and nicotine dependence.
For more about the way I work, see the Services and What is "A Rooted Life?" pages.