Why I do this work:

I come from a working class family and grew up in a turbulent household. I became intimately familiar with class struggles at an early age, and have also experienced traumas that significantly impacted how I have shown up in the world and in my relationships. I was living with undiagnosed neurodivergence, and kept my queerness hidden where it felt safe from my conservative small town in the Midwest. I became an expert at masking, shrinking myself, and taking care of everyone around me.

After many years of feeling like there was something “wrong” with me, I eventually found deep validation, understanding, and care in therapy. I experienced the healing power of being seen and heard by another human. I peeled back the layers of survival mechanisms that had become maladaptive to find a scared kid who hadn’t gotten what they needed. Upon feeling the internal transformation and witnessing external shifts in my life that came from seeing a therapist who could not only non-judgmentally listen, but also advocate for me, kindly challenge me, and empower me to trust myself, I realized that it is part of my journey on this gorgeous little floating rock to be this person for others.

All of this has amounted to a relentless curiosity about people’s stories and a love for exploring the ways people have found to connect, express themselves, and find joy and meaning in life, including through sex and pleasure, art, time in nature, and more. Being a therapist allows me to explore all of these things in my work, as well as the principles I center in my life of anti-racism, anti-ableism, anti-capitalism, Health at Every Size, and feminism.

I completed my Master’s in Professional Mental HealthCounseling at Lewis & Clark here in Portland, and received my Bachelor’s degree in English with a focus in Creative Writing from Northern Michigan University in Marquette, Michigan. Other parts of my journey have included working a slew of service industry jobs in all their exhausting glory, and finding community and chosen family amongst musicians, artists, and fellow neurodivergent and queer folks.