A southern girl, I grew up in Florida, NC and SC. I earned a Bachelor of Music from Columbia College in SC and then earned a graduate certificate of Bible and Missions at Columbia International University, where I met my husband. We moved to the Philippines in 1989 with our young daughter to serve as missionaries for 15 years from 1989 till 2006. We had three more children during our years there and had many amazing experiences and adventures of faith. My journey as a therapist began after getting help from a wonderful counselor in 1999 following a period of loneliness and loss from two miscarriages and subsequent depression.
Having stayed home to raise our kids for a number of years, in 2000 I was at a place where I wanted to pursue more education that would enable me to combine my desire to help others as I had been helped through counseling, with my giftedness in the area of empathy and compassion for others. I studied counseling at Alliance Graduate School in Manila and then later at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary in Charlotte to earn my Master of Arts in Counseling. I became a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor (LCMHC) in 2009 and earned my Supervisor license in 2014 (LCMHCS).
One of the things I love about being a therapist is being a part of the healing journey of my clients. I have had the joy of learning and growing alongside my clients over the past 14 years as a therapist, working with individuals, couples and families. It is a privilege and honor to be entrusted with this calling.
I am certified as an Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) Therapist and Supervisor. EFT first of all confirmed to me that my longings to be seen, heard, validated and attuned to are good, God-given needs that we all have, something to be honored and valued, rather than considered a weakness to be avoided. We are not meant to be alone in this world; we need a few, or at least one person that we know we can count on, seek comfort from, and find strength and courage with in order to meet the difficulties of life. EFT is a therapy approach which prioritizes these longings and helps couples find a path out of the pain and misunderstanding that disconnection with each other brings into a loving, caring relationship in which we experience our partner as our safe place. As Sue Johnson, the founder of EFT has said, “We know that love makes us vulnerable, but also we are never as safe and strong as when we are sure we are loved.”
I also have training in EMDR, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, an approach for healing trauma and resolving various mental health issues, including depression, anxiety, childhood trauma and neglect, loss, and relational wounds.
When I’m not being a therapist, I love reading, gardening, spending time outdoors with my husband exploring the southeast, preferably on a bike, as well as enjoying time with our four adult children and their families.
