My focus in mental health is to shift the narrative from cognitive processes to more emotive and somatic interventions. Teaching students and clients the importance and relevance of emotional literacy and regulation has been my most rewarding experience. My goal is to shift the understanding of mental health in the higher education realm as well in my clinical work. I have been a mental health and substance abuse therapist for the past 20 years working with both adolescents and adults. My focus is to address mental health concerns with emotional regulation, emotional literacy, and somatic interventions. When we work with emotions focused processes, we bring balance and peace between what our lives look like and what we want our lives to look like through authenticity. My goal in working with you is to listen and understand your counseling needs and work to heal your emotional pain beyond symptoms management. My area of expertise is in mood disorders (depression, anxiety, ADHD, bipolar disorder, and others) and relationship well-being (codependency, boundary work, and family systems work), as well as co-occurring disorders. I am trained in cognitive behavioral therapy, emotions focused, mindfulness, dialectical behavioral therapy, motivational interviewing, and have a background in eye movement desensitization reprocessing (EMDR). I consider myself an LGBTQ ally and sensitive to gender fluidity.