About Therapy
More than just talk therapy…
From the outside, it looks like you have it all – a career, family, and vacations to exciting destinations.
But you don’t think you can keep it all together.
There are struggles you’re battling inside and outside that are deeply affecting you and your relationships.
The anxiety, depression, pressure, and self-loathing keep you going to coping mechanisms that make you feel worse.
You can’t seem to STOP these painful physical and mental experiences. You haven’t found anything that helps you to RESET to feel better.
From the first session, I will help you gain experiences where you calm your anxiety and set goals for helping yourself stop the spiral you are on.
My work is body- and mind-oriented by leading you through breathing, small movement, and visualizations, where you gain skills at helping yourself back to health. Over time as you gain inner strength, we return to the painful memories and trauma that brought you here.
We use EMDR, Internal Family Systems, and expressive modalities that fit you to help your body learn to metabolize the pain long buried.
Your resilience in your life journey through hard things has made you a stronger person.
Some parts you rely on, some you celebrate, and others you try desperately to avoid.
But they keep coming back.
The painful memories you tried to bury escape and flood your mind, stirring emotions you don’t want to feel. Drinking, smoking, and other passions keep them away. Sober and alone moments unleash the trap door, and they return stronger.
You are irritable and hard to relate to. Your partner and friends are concerned and calling you out on this cycle of despair.
You can pause the downward spiral and reconnect to yourself.
Therapy has been on your mind before, and maybe you find yourself thinking back to the past therapy you did. Yet the same old feelings come back stronger, or the urges and behaviors to shut them out have made you numb.
You are here now, and I am happy you are!
This is a warm, accepting place to begin.
We’ll focus on what’s concerning or haunting you.
I’ll be by your side as we pause, reflect, and examine how your troubles have hijacked your life. Your past and present have left imprints on how you see yourself and the world, often leaving you stuck in the past.
We’ll also examine how past distress affects your physical body.
You’ll learn to tolerate emotional discomfort better and expand your perspective, distancing YOU from the problem. That’s the first step to making you feel safer.
Whether we meet in person or online, you’ll have a trusted presence with whom you’ll feel safe, seen, and heard.
Our sessions are a time for curiosity and exploration.
As you tell me about yourself and your challenges, we’ll highlight themes to guide our work.
I will share different interventions to help you go deeper inside yourself – to strengthen the inherent good in you so that we can stand together and face your fears.
You will leave with more insight, healthier coping skills, and things you can do between sessions to ground and calm yourself.
Looking into your past through the lens of everything you are now is the journey to becoming your fully integrated authentic self!
About Me
How I got into the art therapy…
As a teen, I struggled with anxiety and depression. And like many others, I turned to substances to feel better and answer life’s “biggest questions.”
As a young adult, I kept evolving, exploring new values and experiences. I pressed on and committed to sobriety in my late 20s.
That’s when my dreams started coming back, and they came back vividly! The experience filled me with intrigue and questions, so I dove inward to access more of what was inside me. I started to paint and collage my dream images using my intuition.
I then found grounding with teachers of dreams and ancient mystical traditions. I’ve been searching for answers to my struggles through art, movement, spiritual practices, and meditation since!
This is my education and experience…
I have a Bachelor of Science in Social Work and Master of Arts degrees in creation spirituality and counseling psychology with an emphasis in expressive arts therapy from the California Institute of Integral Studies.
Before starting my own practice, I worked with adolescents and their families for two decades in residential settings. I’ve worked with adults, couples, and families in private practice. I’ve also led expressive arts women’s retreats with my colleagues.
My husband and I then taught overseas for ten years in international American curriculum schools, where I was a school counselor. We happily returned to the U.S. in June 2021, when I restarted in private practice.
When I’m not doing art or therapy…
With my husband retired, there is an open invitation to hike, bike, kayak, walk, and enjoy the beauty of the Northern Idaho landscape.
We have four grown children and eight grandchildren in the area. We play with them indoors and outdoors, relishing the time we missed while overseas.
Outside of family time, meditation is an important practice in my life. It’s the focal point of my day, and I spend two months a year doing meditation retreats.
Finally, I love traveling, hot yoga classes, and vegetarian food!
I’m so happy you’re here!
Take the next steps and call me at (208) 843-3638.
I offer free half-hour consultation sessions to allow you to determine if you are in the right place with the right fit therapist.
I will answer your questions and concerns and, if time allows, walk you through a vagal toning exercise to relieve your body from all the overload.