My Story
A career change in my late 30s led me to become a therapist. An enthusiastic English major, I earned a master’s degree in English Literature, taught English in Japan, and worked for newspapers, including as a features reporter at the Fort Collins Coloradoan. A desire to go deeper into other’s stories led me to the master’s program in Marriage and Family Therapy at Colorado State University.
A therapist since 2010, I have worked with victims of child sexual abuse at ChildSafe in Fort Collins and with families, children, and adolescents at Cheyenne Regional Medical Center. Over the years, I have gradually shifted my focus to therapy with adults.
Raised in a large Catholic family in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, I’ve called Fort Collins home for more than 15 years. I also have a soft spot for Wyoming where I lived for five years. I spent countless hours walking the wind-swept prairie near Cheyenne with my trusted companion at the time, a Great Pyrenees named Sassy.
I moved back to Fort Collins in 2019 when I married my husband, a fellow CSU alumnus, engineer, and musician. A first-time marriage for both of us, we are childless by life circumstance. Our Irish setter, Fergus, is a reliable source of entertainment and mayhem.
Therapy Approaches
Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP)
ERP, a type of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), is a highly effective therapy for treating Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) as well as anxiety. ERP helps someone living with OCD to gradually approach fears. Unfortunately, OCD is often misdiagnosed or treated ineffectively, so it is important to be assessed by a therapist who has specific expertise with OCD.
Accelerated Experiential Psychodynamic Therapy (AEDP)
AEDP is an experiential therapy which helps a person safely process overwhelming emotions, thus fostering neuroplasticity and healing. AEDP is effective for treating trauma, adult attachment issues, depression, emotional dysregulation, and relationship problems. Drawing on attachment theory, it’s especially helpful for those who have experienced abuse, neglect, or abandonment.
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR)
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a well-established type of therapy often used to treat Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) or other trauma or stress-related problems. Positive outcomes also have been shown with depression, anxiety, OCD, and other difficult life experiences. EMDR therapy helps people to change negative beliefs about themselves and others that stem from painful events.
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