From early in my career, I have been working with families to navigate complicated life situations and help them create outcomes that best serve them and those that they love. I am passionate about helping families maximize their potential and the potential of their children. During my time as a reintegration specialist, I worked with incarcerated individuals on their journey to rejoin society and identify and overcome many barriers. Later as a social worker, I worked to develop solutions for the long-term care of children faced with family separation. These collective experiences allowed me to discover my passion for helping families navigate traumatic situations and pasts. As a mother of a large family with biological, blended, adopted, and special needs children, I am intimately familiar with the challenges that many families face as they navigate multiple families of origin, trauma, and walk-through circumstances and challenges that can often be confusing for children.
I hold a Bachelor of Science degree in Sociology and a Master of Science in Forensic Psychology from Oklahoma State University. After leaving social work to raise my young children, I chose to return to school to pursue a career in professional counseling. I graduated with honors from Southern Nazarene University with a Master of Arts degree in Counseling Psychology. Since graduation, I have worked in a variety of clinical settings serving children and adults and have completed trainings in Infant Mental Health, TheraPlay, AutPlay, and EMDR. I am passionate about seeking and learning evidence-based modalities and interventions to maximize the benefit of time that I am afforded with families.
Outside of my work, I love spending time with my family camping, enjoying school and sports activities, and working in our local church and ministry groups.