ABOUT ME

It feels impossible to summarize my identity in a tiny box of words. The most important roles I play are Therapist, Writer, and Mom. Though there are so many more: friend, daughter, activist, woman.

I've been doing therapy for almost two decades and have been in private practice since 2020. I work primarily with women and specialize in trauma, religious trauma, divorce, life transitions, parenting, and relationships. My work as a therapist is incredibly important to me and has shaped my life in ways I can't fully articulate.

Writing is something I've done my whole life; it's my preferred method of communication. It's how I've processed my own trauma and loss, found my way in dark times, and made sense of life. But when I turned 40, I felt what Brene Brown describes as the universe grabbing me by my shoulders, pulling me close, and whispering in my ear:

Time is growing short. There are unexplored adventures ahead of you.
It's time to show up and be seen.

Brene Brown, Midlife Unraveling

So, in 2022, I made a commitment to get serious about my writing. In October of that year, I traveled to the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, New York to spend a weekend learning from Cheryl Strayed and to meet Elizabeth Lesser, two women whose writing impacted and inspired me in profound ways. I started studying craft through books, workshops and seminars, set reading goals for myself, and carved out time in my weekly schedule for writing. As 2023 came to a close, I determined that 2024 would be the year I finished the first draft of a manuscript - my memoir - and that's what I'm working on now.

I'm a third-generation Californian and a Midwest transplant of sixteen years. I have two daughters, a golden retriever pup named Penny, and a cantankerous cat named Katie (named after Barbra Streisand's character in The Way We Were, one of my favorite movies). I enjoy traveling and hiking, finding new coffee shops and bookstores, and adventuring with my kids. Most of the time, though, you can find me at home in my sweatpants with a book.

CREDENTIALS

In bullet form

I have a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Westmont College in Santa Barbara, CA and graduated Magna Cum Laude as the Psychology Department's Outstanding Senior

I earned my Master of Science in Marriage and Family Therapy from The Family Institute at Northwestern University in 2010

I hold a life coaching certification from The Life Purpose Institute

I'm a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and hold active licenses in the states of Indiana, Michigan, and Arizona

LET'S CONNECT

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Sharing some more details about The Clearing. What is it, who is it for, and where will your money be going. All pretty important questions. If you have others, please comment below or send me a message.

If you’re wondering if this community is for you, chances are, it was designed with you in mind. I wanted a space outside of the apps where I could gather all the amazing women I know.

Don’t wait to join if you’re able to now. Let’s get started!

These are all posts I’ve saved and shared this week as I’ve prepared to open up The Clearing. The one thing I continue to come back to as I receive alert after alert, breaking news after breaking news, is repeated in these slides: It’s up to us. The only way we’re going to make it through is by creating and cultivating community. It’s by taking care of one another. By investing in each other. By sharing resources and means and information. By providing tangible support like money and legal aid and referrals and, hell, even groceries and gas and housing. But also intangible support—emotional support, safety, compassion, encouragement, wisdom.

The systems we’ve been a part of will not save us. They will only keep us sick and stressed and scared. And alone. Abusers isolate their victims. That’s how they control what information and influence they receive. Guess what? We are more powerful, more equipped, more energized when we are together. So let’s do that. Let’s come together.

Slides shared by (in order): @hollytruhlar @lovestephaniegreene @jessjanz @_stillwerise @jonathanldent @miabirdsong @emilyinyourphone

Do not let this deter or discourage you. There are plenty of organizations still fighting for and supporting your reproductive rights. If you need help accessing resources or figuring out your next steps, please reach out to me.

Here’s what I’m doing today: I’m making a list of all the things that bring me joy and adding to it as the day goes on, as I stumble across more of it. There’s no shortage of it, after all. At least if you’re paying attention. If you’re looking for it. There’s no shortage of the other thing, either. I know that. I stare it in the face plenty.

But this is my resistance. My revolution. To insist on my joy (my very favorite quote from Nightbitch, btw). To stubbornly refuse to let anyone or anything take that away from me. I hope you’ll join me. I’d love to hear what’s on your list. 💕

Samantha Harvey’s Orbital is my first book of 2025. How can it not be?

Another year of incredible books. I finished Blue Sisters by @cocomellors on the plane ride home but am counting it as a 2024 book because this is my reading list and I can do what I want. Also cried on the plane ride home finishing it. What a spectacular book. I underlined so many fantastic lines.

There were so many like it this year. Nightbitch by @raijoy, We Were the Universe by @kimberlykingparsons, and Madwoman by @chelseabieker were all top faves. But it’s so hard to choose when every book meets me at just the right time and leaves me with some form of inspiration and encouragement and awe. I also read the entire @emilyhenrywrites canon and am utterly hooked. Give me all the happy endings. I can’t wait for her next one.

I’ll never get over books. Never ever. They are my love language. 📚💕

If you told me this is how I’d be closing out 2024 and ringing in the new year, I wouldn’t have believed you. But it turns out, the Universe is still full of good surprises. Really good surprises. Also, yes. That is the world’s tiniest milkshake. Next time remind me to order a medium.

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ABOUT ME

Time is growing short. There are unexplored adventures ahead of you. It's time to show up and be seen. Brene Brown, Midlife Unraveling

CREDENTIALS

LET'S CONNECT

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Time is growing short. There are unexplored adventures ahead of you.
It's time to show up and be seen.

Brene Brown, Midlife Unraveling