About me
For you to get a feel for who I am and what has shaped my life, I’d like to walk with you through some of the landscapes that have shaped me.
This might also give you a sense of what it will be like for us as we work together.
So please join me on a little walk through…
The Landscapes that shaped me
I grew up in a small town in Alaska as the middle of four children. I was always a bit of a loner and from a young age discovered tranquility in stillness and solitude. I liked being by myself on the swings at recess, imagining everything that could happen in my life and having lots of conversations in my head. I also loved to wander around, looking at trees and wondering what they were thinking.
The landscape of The Great Land is extreme and rugged, with long nights in the winter and long days in the summer. These exaggerated opposites of winter and summer drove home in me an appreciation for seasons and the beauty of the cyclical nature of life.
I lived in Kansas from 2016-2020 while completing a master’s degree in Couples and Family Therapy. This was a pivotal chapter in my life, during which I left the conservative religion of my upbringing. I found myself plunged into a dark night with all the confusion, disorientation, and grief that accompanies such a major transition.
I also came out as queer during these years, cut my hair short because that’s what lesbians have to do (jk, no shade all you long-haired lesbians), and began to let myself love in a way that was authentic to me.
Driving east over the prairies as I was moving to Kansas, I remember looking at how big and wide open the sky was with no mountains breaking up the expanse. I had the sense as I made my way across that something was opening for me. Horizons that had been previously obstructed were becoming accessible. It was as exciting as it was terrifying.
In 2020, during the heat of COVID-19, I moved from Kansas to Salt Lake City, Utah. I like to think of it as retracing the westward steps of my pioneer ancestors, just with my own unique twist of being openly gay and sometimes saying bad words while I did it.
I worked in Utah first as an Associate and later as a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist for about five years, and eventually opening my own private practice in 2024.
With the help of supervisors, mentors and my own therapy I learned to bring my whole self more fully to my work and really connect with my clients. I learned that depth of presence means more than anything else in the healing and growth process.
In the background of my life over the past several years, I’ve been reconstructing my own faith and sense of spirituality. This has happened in community (both explicitly religious/spiritual and not), and on my own through reading, experimenting and experiencing spirit as I understand it, whether that be at a mountain lake, or a conversation with a friend.
At the end of 2024, I felt the nudge to enroll in an interfaith seminary program through The Chaplaincy Institute doing coursework to prepare to become an interfaith chaplain (a person who provides spiritual care for people in secular settings such as a hospital or prison) and a spiritual director.
This has further opened the doors of my heart, both enlivening me and challenging me to see beyond the walls that I have both inherited and constructed and embrace the beauty within all traditions and communities.
Now that I’ve shared a little about me, I’d love to hear what has shaped your life! I hope that you reach out with any questions you may have about me or my work and would love to get to know your story.