I have personally floundered in the dangerous waters of loss, trauma and addiction, as have some of my loved ones. I entered recovery with a boatload of issues and very basic survival skills. I was living, but not alive and it was a matter of time before I sank. Time outdoors, people who love me, and EMDR therapy, kept me afloat long enough to create a life worth staying sober for. While this experience alone has not made me an expert in addressing these issues with others, it has been the driving force behind my clinical training. When you find peaceful and still waters, you want others to find their way there too.

I’ve pursued years of clinical training, but my most robust learning experiences have come from my therapy clients and the therapists who seek my consultation services. From that work, I have learned:

• Each person is unique. There is no “one way” to live or recover from trauma or an addiction.
• People with histories of abuse, neglect and trauma—deserve a good life, a life they define on their own terms.
• Addictions are a deadly undertow; while the water might appear smooth on the surface, they are a constant, lethal pull that can keep good, creative, people stagnant. And this pull also has the power to eventually sink them.
• Breaking free from the old may require sifting through the flotsam and jetsam of the past—carefully collecting the good and leaving behind what is no longer necessary.
• Individual human beings are not their past, the past may be an influence, but it does not need to define them.
• Recovery is possible at any stage of life’s trip. It’s a heroic journey. It’s a worthy journey. It starts by taking the first step and staying on course.

That I will approach my task at hand, be it—individual therapy, consultation or training—with passion, curiosity, hard work, partnership, hopefulness and solid ethics. My approach is person-centered, down to earth and grounded in evidence based clinical training.