About Me

In my own life, I have sought support from a variety of places and people, including analysts and therapists. I know how vital it is to feel a sense of connection with your therapist as you begin this deeper work.

I grew up as an “army brat” or a “third culture kid,” moving frequently and living abroad. Because of this, a felt sense of homelessness and a search for a physical and spiritual home have colored my life, as well as a taste for adventure and curiosity about the culture of others. I’ve lived in North Carolina since 2010, longer than anywhere else.

Being a spouse and raising kids are full of joys and challenges, and I know them well. I love being in the woods, and I take pleasure in the magical worlds of beekeeping, fermentation, and baseball.

Since I was a young child, I have been drawn to different religious expressions and traditions. Over the years, I have spent significant time studying and practicing with religious communities and teachers. I do not proselytize or practice a faith-based counseling, yet I am attuned to the spiritual and soulful dimensions of human experience.

My previous career history encompasses a wide range of experiences supporting individuals and groups in the fields of education, pastoral ministry, mental health, spirituality, and social change. Today, working as a licensed therapist allows me to do what I love the most, which is to be present with others through a fermentative process of healing, meaning-making, and deepening of soulful connections with self and others.

My academic training is from Pacifica Graduate Institute where I secured a Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology with an emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy and Depth Psychology. Previously, I received a Doctor of Ministry (DMin) from Duke Divinity School at Duke University. I also have a Master’s degree in Franciscan Spirituality from the Franciscan Institute at St. Bonaventure University.

I have received post-graduate training in the following areas: Military Culture from Star Behavioral Health Providers; Analytical Psychology and Neo-Jungian Studies from Pacifica Graduate Institute; Religious Trauma and Spiritual Abuse from the Reclamation Collective; and DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) from Racial Equity Institute.

I am a member of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT).

As a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapy Associate, I practice under the supervision of Heidi Oesterle, LMFT.

My practice is named Two Ravens Therapy, PLLC. Ravens are an archetypal image with a variety of mythic references across cultures. They are often understood to be messengers of the gods (see Odin and his Ravens). One of the stories that is personally meaningful is of 9th century hermit monk St. Meinrad. Carrying nothing but an image of the Madonna, Meinrad traveled into the dark and deep woods of Switzerland. His only companions during this intense time of solitude and inner work were two ravens.

My Specialties

I love working with individuals, couples, and families, supporting people through a variety of life stages, circumstances, and experiences.

Given my background experiences and training, I find that I am most helpful with:

Individuals, couples, or families going through a significant life transition like engagement, marriage, divorce, military deployment, breakups, blended families, moving, loss, or career changes
Individuals, couples, and families struggling with intimacy, sexuality, affairs, attachment wounds, boundaries, communication, or relational conflict
Individuals, couples, or families who are living with experiences of acute trauma, developmental trauma, or cultural and religious trauma
Individuals living with depression or anxiety, or both; or experiencing feelings of grief, loneliness, stress, or anger
Individuals seeking greater meaning, soul, self-understanding, self-esteem, or connection to creative work and social change, and those who desire to take their inner lives seriously (or who want to learn to do so)
Clergy, lay ministers, and others struggling with issues of vocation, discernment, compassion fatigue and burnout, or imposter syndrome

My Clinical Approach

Although I use a variety of therapeutic perspectives and techniques depending on your unique needs, I work primarily from psychodynamic, depth-oriented models of psychotherapy.

What that means is that an aspect of our work will be attuning to what is below the surface of your behaviors, conflicts, relationship dynamics, dreams, somatic symptoms, thoughts, and feelings. I believe that the human soul is a thing of enormous ambiguity; we are often contradictions, even unto ourselves. I also recognize that it is difficult to sit with and be mindful to the full subtleties of any given issue, feeling, or moment all by ourselves. Thus, too often, rather than holding space for ourselves, we shut down, whether that’s through drinking, sex, binge eating, or simply denying we feel anything at all.

My approach has been informed by Jungian, psychoanalytic, and systemic perspectives.

More broadly, my approach is focused on providing a safe, grounded space for deep listening and respectful attention. I offer a container strong enough to receive you where you are with all the uncertainty, sorrow, and suffering that lives in you. My hope is that through our work together you can see yourself and your relationships more clearly and dialogue about how it all relates to your developmental history, current crossroads, and future concerns. My posture in this work is one of humility, curiosity, and compassion.

Although it is natural to want a quick solution to a problem, I believe that deep reflection, self-understanding, and healing are lifelong pursuits and are not always engaged satisfactorily in quick and linear ways.

People often report immediate gains in therapy because just being able to have some time to talk with someone with honesty feels amazing. Additionally, there are skill-exercises that we can practice that offer tangible and swift benefits. However, lasting change is slow and hard, and “bad habits” often have us in their grip.

In my experience as a practitioner and as one engaged in my own therapy, this work is usually characterized by uncertainty and discomfort, as we make our circuitous path through dark woods. I aim to hold space and accompaniment for your journey, with the faith that if you commit yourself to this work, a greater aliveness is possible.