I look forward to watching you grow into the person you have always wanted to be.

I am originally from the Austin, Texas area where I attended Texas State University. During my collegiate career, I worked for three years at a state of the art boarding school with an emphasis on military, mental health, and college prep. During my time there, I was responsible for planning & executing meaningful activities for the boarding students. The majority of these students came from families in the top 1% of wealth in the world, including but not limited to politicians, celebrities, and even children of families involved in organized crime. It was common for kids to share stories on being kidnapped in the night by companies paid to put them on a plane & transport them to boarding school. I was lucky enough to be able to play an informal mentorship role to many of these students, allowing me to understand the unique needs of the 1%. To my surprise, the problems they faced were more similar to patients in poverty I had the privilege of working with my final year in college. Kids in both settings consistently reported trauma symptoms in the form of distrust of others, nightmares, and difficulty trusting authority figures. These symptoms can be merely inconvenient or frustrating in childhood, but if not treated, can lead to difficulty maintaining relationships, especially those at work. In my final year of college, I worked at a group home for pregnant and parenting teenagers. This program was for children experiencing homelessness who had become pregnant & needed emergency placement in the foster care system. During this time, I took workshops on evidence-based parenting approaches (such as Trauma-Based Relational Intervention, currently the gold standard for highly traumatized children). Although I do not serve children in my practice, it was a powerful experience to walk alongside women becoming mothers for the first time and guide them in a way that aligned with their values.

Upon relocating to Denver for graduate school at the University of Denver, my first year internship involved doing refugee resettlement in the Aurora area. I worked mainly with asylum seekers who were prior moles for the United States army & were given special visas to relocate stateside. During this time, I saw the refugee crisis from the inside out & strongly value this time by drawing from what I learned about the middle east - from ideals around working and family, to the importance of community. During the summer between my first and second years of graduate school, I lived in Cambodia and worked full time for a mental health nonprofit there serving victim-survivors of genocide (the Khmer Rouge). During this time, I wrote & published a book on the unique needs of victims of trauma, and how community can be rebuilt despite our lingering beliefs it could be impossible. During my second year of graduate school, I interned with the Family Tree’s Karlis Family Center in which I provided supervised visitation for high profile child sexual abuse cases. During this time, I monitored & documented parental interactions with their children for direct reporting back to the courts for custody arrangements.

Upon completing my masters in International Disaster Psychology, I began working for the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless as an integrated behavioral health provider. In this role, I worked on a medical team helping patients treat both medical and mental health disorders. This role allowed me to become an expert on severe and persistent mental illness in the forms of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, spending over 8,000 clinical hours working with severe cases. I then transitioned into working at a solely mental health organization, Community Reach Center, in which I help out with our Westminster Wellness Court, a mental health court program for diversion, as well as do mental health intakes with folks incarcerated in prison to ensure they are connected to services upon release. Through wellness court, I attend court bi-weekly and present on cases I am involved with while providing care recommendations. In the community clinic setting, I also see depression, anxiety, and trauma cases. I work part-time in community mental health and part-time in private practice to keep my skills sharp. In my free time, I enjoy spending time with my husband and our 2 cats, Taco and Gumbo, and with our Bernedoodle named Sushi. I also co-founded the nation’s largest psychiatric service dog and emotional support animal company (Pettable).

DEGREES

Master of Art in International Disaster Psychology, University of Denver, 2017

Bachelor of Art in Psychology, Minor in Forensic Psychology, Texas State University, 2015

LICENSURE

Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) Colorado Licensed #LPC.0015942

Licensed Professional Counselor (TLHT LPC) Florida Licensed #TPMC758

Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) Texas Licensed #LPC.86543

Licensed Addiction Counselor (LAC) Colorado Licensed #ACD.0001807

*A Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) must have:

• a master’s degree [minimum 60 credit hours] from an American Psychological Association accredited program

• clean general & criminal history background check

• obtain 2,000 hours of face-to-face counseling experience

• 100 hours of supervision gained over a period of at least two years

• have passed the National Counseling Exam (NCE)

• have passed the state Jurisprudence exam

• participate in 40 hours of continuing education per year of practice to maintain state licensure

*A Licensed Addiction Counselor (LAC) must have:

• a clinical master’s degree [minimum 60 credit hours] from an American Psychological Association accredited program

• complete 10 additional graduate level courses

• obtain 2,000 hours of face-to-face counseling experience

• 100 hours of supervision gained over a period of at least two years

• have passed the Master Addiction Counselor (MAC) exam

• have passed the state Jurisprudence exam

RELEVANT COURSEWORK

Gender-Based Violence, Crisis Intervention, Program Evaluation, International Public Health, Issues in Measurement, Research Methods, Statistics, Career Counseling, Psychopharmacology, Psychopathology & Diagnosis, Clinical Interviewing, Global Mental Health, International Perspectives of Trauma Intervention, Ethics, Group Interventions, Foundations of International Disaster Psychology, Psychology of Loss & Grief, Lifespan Development & Cultural Context, Career Counseling, Adolescent Psychology, Forensic Psychology, Evolutionary Psychology, Sociology, Personality Psychology, Crime Theory, Criminal Law