Services
- Individual
- Couples
- Family
About My Clients
My ideal client is someone who feels broken and empty due to trauma or loss and is looking for that spark of hope that will ignite change and movement toward a life worth living! I have developed a menu of evidence based treatment options over 30 years to treat trauma, loss, depression, anxiety, and compassion fatigue. I often integrate expressive arts, mindfulness, and meditation to assist in rewiring the nervous system response and reducing symptoms related to chronic stress/anxiety.
My Background and Approach
I am a licensed clinical social worker with over 30 years experience in working with individuals, couples, or families who have experienced trauma or loss. I have worked in nursing homes, child welfare, homeless services, and with the severe an chronically mentally ill individuals. I have training in multiple evidence based treatments including: CBT, DBT, EMDR, CPT, TF-CBT, ITCT, ACT, Prolonged Exposure Therapy, and Trauma Informed Expressive Arts. I am passionate about assisting individuals in pain and can hold space with genuine care, while also challenging disabling beliefs and patterns of behavior that haven't served you. I also have a proven track record for providing trauma informed care training and consulting for organizations/groups interested in making this organizational cultural shift. I have provided hundreds of training sessions for health care professionals across disciplines and in community based programs.
My Personal Beliefs and Interests
I am passionate about the field of social work and was recently awarded the NASW Social Worker of the Year by a group of peers in the Missouri Chapter (2020). I led a mid- Missouri maximum forensic mental health hospital in a decade long trauma informed care cultural change process leading to the hospital becoming the first forensic mental health center in the nation to be trauma informed. This led to facilitating a three year learning collaboration with other forensic mental health centers across Missouri, to enhance the continuum of care for clients moving from high security settings to minimum security or group home settings. While providing leadership for these efforts I continued to also provide therapy for individuals with complex trauma histories and often also severe and persistent mental illness.