What’s going on?
As a healer, teacher, and now a coach, I’ve helped thousands of people connect with a deeper understanding of themselves. I come to this work having been a yoga teacher, energy healer, and flower essence practitioner for eight years. While I greatly appreciate these traditions, I also noticed a deficit. Despite their many benefits, they weren’t always able to create lasting mental and emotional change.
I wanted to know: What could reach the deeper places within?
This wasn’t a strictly professional question. It was personal, too. While my own perfectionism led to a dual degree at Johns Hopkins University, numerous academic awards, and a successful career, I spent many years struggling with anxiety, depression, and self-doubt. I had learned early on that my value was tied to my accomplishments, and in adulthood, I continued to question my self-worth if I wasn’t constantly achieving. Even in personal relationships, I reflexively sought the approval of others, often to my own detriment.
How did I get here?
I began earnestly learning about the ways that stress and trauma impact our thoughts, emotions, and behavior in 2016. Interest piqued, I later dove headfirst into studying the effects of breath and movement on the nervous system. As I integrated my newfound knowledge into the classes and workshops I was teaching, my enthusiasm grew, and I went on to take as many trainings as I could.
My own trauma healing journey helped me realize the undeniable role that relationships play in both creating and resolving trauma, including the patterns and tendencies that hold so many of my clients back. This led me to pursue training in the NeuroAffective Relational Model (NARM), which addresses healing developmental and relational trauma (also known as complex trauma). I now hold the credential of a NARM-Informed Practitioner.
What my work is like today ...
I knew I didn’t want to become a therapist, but instead sought to blend the new skills I was learning with the traditions I had already been working with for years prior. My work today is a mix of conversation, body and emotional awareness, and practical tools my clients can use in their everyday lives. My intention is to help my clients feel more connected, more empowered, more self-trusting, and way more joyful.
In addition, I have formal training through Planned Parenthood and extensive experience working with hundreds of people around issues of sexuality, intimacy, and gender. I welcome queer, non-binary, and trans folks, people with alternative relationship structures, and anyone else who leads an unconventional life into my practice.
I love to speak on a variety of topics, including how to cultivate an inner sense of belonging, building emotional resilience, advocating for yourself in relationships, and setting boundaries that are both effective and kind. If you’d like to invite me to speak on your podcast, panel, or conference, contact me below.
In my spare time?
IIn my spare time, I delight in tending to my garden and my many houseplants. I’ve been known to have full-on conversations with my two cats, as well as a rotating menagerie of foster kittens. When I’m not covered in cat hair, I enjoy hiking, concocting my own herbal medicine, and sipping tea (though I’ll never turn down a well-crafted cocktail). As a former artist with a lifelong passion for interior design, I spend far too much time decorating my home, and I’m known to still sketch an occasional doodle here and there.