Specializations

Trauma Counseling
Grief and Loss Counseling
Integrated Substance Abuse Counseling
Perinatal, Pregnancy, and Postpartum Counseling Support
Couples Counseling

Trauma Counseling

As a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional, I work with survivors of sexual abuse & trauma, complex trauma, PTSD, and depression/anxiety. In addition, I work with those exploring social oppression, ancestry, grief/sorrow, spirituality (including spiritual abuse), and domestic violence. By using forward-facing trauma therapy, I can support you in creating a step-by-step bridge from despair to optimal living.

www.traumapro.net

Grief and Loss Counseling

I have commented to my patients that although sex and driver education are common subjects taught in high schools these days, not only is death education not a covered subject but rather, something the American public generally steers clear of. As a result, in times of great personal distress, an individual experiencing loss often feels alone, isolated, and misunderstood. Grief counseling is an area I have been addressing since beginning clinical practice over 9 years ago. My labor coach experience (labor coach since 2014) helps me in addressing loss associated with miscarriage, fetal demise, and death related to childbirth, genetic anomalies, and elective terminations. As a licensed mental health counselor and assistant professor at Vermont State University in the Counseling Graduate Program I work with individuals who experience loss from other vantage points. Divorce, even when viewed as a good choice, often comes with sadness and mixed emotions. Likewise, caregivers losing a spouse or parent will go through the mourning process despite what may be a blessed ending. All of these events require a period of mourning and a coming to terms with the absence of the loved one (including pets!). Patience, understanding, and acceptance are a necessary goal of treatment.

Perinatal, Pregnancy, and Postpartum Counseling Support

What was expected to be a period of calm and delight can turn into a time suffused with anxiety, obsessive worry, and depression. With 75-80% of all new mothers experiencing the “blues,” it is not unusual for this circumstance to deepen into feelings that just won’t let go. Factors for this reaction beyond a day or two of the blues are complicated. Counseling is an important tool for reducing and eliminating this distress. As a member of Postpartum Support International, I use interventions that are designed to assess the family situation and implement strategies to regain mental and physical health rapidly and effectively.

www.postpartum.net

Integrated Substance Abuse Counseling

Addiction combines the most intractable elements of emotional problems with powerful ongoing biological pressure to remain in addiction. The patterns created by addiction can alter the structures of family and friendships, while permanently changing the chemical systems of the body. The process of repair and recovery can be long and stressful, however, it is not impossible. As a licensed drug and alcohol counselor, using techniques such as motivational interviewing, I will support you in developing relapse prevention skills. Together we will begin to develop a treatment plan so that you will know from the start the changes that demonstrate such progress.

www.motivationalinterviewing.org

Couples counseling

The purpose of couples counseling sessions is to create open lines of communication that will allow a couple to be more expressive and to treat their own relationship problems, usually without the need for ongoing counseling. If you’re in a relationship with any type of recurring issue, you may benefit from couples counseling. As a couple’s counselor, I can help couples approach issues such as adultery and affairs, problematic dishonesty, parenting skills, lack of communication, sexual dysfunction, and sexual health in general.

As a professional couple’s counselor and a full-time assistant professor at Vermont State University, I emphasize open communication and empathy in my sessions. I guide couples to understand each other’s emotions accurately and find their resolutions. My concurrent role as a PhD student at the Modern Sex Therapy Institutes enhances my ability to integrate learned skills into my counseling work. My approach is practical, direct, and accessible, with a focus on the immediate changes clients seek in their relationships.

"Your outer journey may contain a million steps; your inner journey only has one: the step you are taking right now."

Eckhart Tolle, author of “The Power of Now”