ABOUT

I used to teach 4th and 5th grade in an inner-city elementary school. On the wall in my classroom was a long banner that read,

“When you believe in yourself, anything is possible.”

I was always amazed by how that banner impacted my students. I would hear them repeating the words to encourage each other when an assignment was difficult, or saying it to me when I would lapse into some explanation about why we couldn’t do something as a class. I found myself repeating the message on that banner as a sort of mantra, especially when I was taking a risk to begin something new, or asking my students to do the same. My passion for believing that people could succeed and live the life of their dreams through inner-strength and self-confidence led me to pursue a degree in psychotherapy.

I graduated from Naropa University in Boulder, CO with a Master’s Degree in Transpersonal Counseling Psychotherapy in 2003. Transpersonal means beyond the personal, or, beyond our limited ego beliefs and limitations of who we think we are. At Naropa I learned what it meant to be in the present moment, how to slow down, the wisdom of feeling, how to have compassion for myself as well as others, and that how I defined myself was, at best, a small prison cell. Through the study of Eastern Philosophy, Buddhism, and Western Psychology as well as the help of some wise teachers, therapists, and meditation instructors, I began to understand that each and every one of us is so much more than our limited, conditioned beliefs about who we think we are. I have found myself called to work with people who believe that something is inherently wrong with them. My passion in life is to shine the light of truth on this low self-esteem epidemic in the West and to help people live their lives based on their gifts and passions instead of their fears and insecurities. I believe that with support each and every one of us can overcome our belief that we are not good enough and live the life that we are meant to live. I am so lucky to have a job that I love, and Golden, CO is a beautiful place to live and work.

In 2019, I had the pleasure of graduating from the CA Institute of Integral Studies with a certificate in Psychedelic Therapies and Research. This training program has expanded my understanding of what promotes healing, and called me to dive deeper into my transpersonal roots. For more information please see my psychedelic integration therapy page, as well as read my final paper on the topic for a snapshot of the current research and hope that psychedelics are bringing to therapy-resistant issues such as depression, trauma, and addiction.

In 2022, I had the unique opportunity to attend a Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy and Internal Family Systems (IFS) training led by Phil Wolfson, director of the Ketamine Training Center, and Richard Schwartz, creator of IFS, at the stunning Menla Retreat Center. Menla means medicine buddha in Tibetan, and this blend of healing modalities was indeed a unique blend of medicine!