ABOUT

I am excited to meet you and to start this journey with you. I have been working with women, families, and teens for over 25 years. My path and training have been circuitous with the ever present themes of caring about people and nature and the well being of both at its core.

I grew up in the mountains of Western North Carolina at my family’s summer camp, where most days were spent exploring the magic of the woods, becoming sticky with sap, and living in a community. At the age of 26, I knew it was time to move on since I had been living, working, and breathing this life since birth, and I had quite literally I needed to fledge.   I was nervous, scared, and excited about moving out West.  While packing, I had two dreams I won’t ever forget.  The first one was that I was alone in the woods, and nine pileated woodpeckers landed in a circle around me, all facing outwards.  The next dream was that I was trying to rock climb through a waterfall in front of a panel of judges, and I couldn’t find the next move.  The judges simply said, “Keep looking, and you will find it.”  So with my spirit guides in my heart and a mantra firmly implanted in my mind, I moved to Tahoe, California.

The next three years primed the pump for a more significant transformation.  During the winter months, I would ski in Tahoe, and during the summers, I would lead expeditions for teenagers to Oregon, Idaho, Africa, Peru, Joshua Tree, and beyond. Even though this was an exciting life, I was beginning to have moments when a deeper calling was starting to speak.  One Christmas morning, I was skiing by myself.  I went to the top of the mountain, where I found myself above the clouds, looking down at them.  I was overwhelmed by the beauty of the moment while simultaneously feeling so incredibly lonely.  It was an odd sensation of feeling so connected to the greater world and yet feeling so alone.  I knew it was time to shift into my next phase of life – to explore the deeper connection.  I was thirty when I started graduate school at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology (now Sophia Institute).

This was when my life unraveled.  I was in graduate school for two months when I realized that I was waking every morning crying, and I could not find any bearing or knew of any practices to help me contain the feelings of overwhelm I was having.   I found a therapist, and she was heaven-sent.  In my first session, she asked me what I wanted to get out of therapy, and all I could answer was, “To find my voice.”  With her guidance, I delved into Shamanic journeying, Holotropic breathwork, dance, and movement groups.  You name it; I was game. As I witnessed, up close, the rhythms of nature, the formation of community, and the capacities inherent in becoming a resilient human, I felt their gravity pull at me, beckoning me toward my more profound purpose, so I transferred to Meridian University for my Ph.D. My research focused on the effects of culture on the development of the Maternal Identity.  My clinical work started with a two-year internship at the Child Therapy Institute of Marin.  The emphasis of this work was family systems, play therapy, and a whole family approach to healing. 

The mountains of North Carolina eventually called me home, where I live now with my husband and two children. I still hike in the woods every day and work in our herbal gardens. I am constantly connected and inspired by the natural world as it infuses my work as faculty at Meridian University, how I approach being a mother and wife, and my work with mothers and women.

I work with women and mothers to guide transformation, to connect with their intuitive knowing, to walking a way of wisdom, sovereignty, and beauty, and well-being in their expression of being a Woman.

Using a holistic approach, I’ll guide you on a journey to re-connect with your Soul, which holds your deep well of wisdom, potency, sovereignty, and passion for life. Together we can find clarity, your voice, and develop the capacities to respond creatively to the multitude of challenges and complexities that modernity present.