Therapy is Human.
The therapy I provide is an authentic relationship that focuses on your whole self. I don’t offer “techniques” that focus on symptoms, which inevitably return.
Relationships are essential to being happy, healthy, and whole. As a counselor, I offer a relationship that brings insight, healing, and growth, so that your other relationships can flourish. The more aware you become the more confident you will be in your relationships because you will be able to respond, instead of react. This clarity will allow you to embrace more of life, more of yourself, and more of the people you love.
I am ready and excited to journey with you into a deeper understanding of who you are, how to be in relationship with others, and what your purpose is.
Life is difficult.
It makes all the sense in the world to meet with someone and try to figure out why life is so difficult and what can be done about it. That is what I am trying to do as a counselor. I am trying to help you untangle the complicated threads that we all find ourselves trapped, hindered, and controlled by. Freedom to think, to feel, to speak, and to act how one truly wants to, this is the goal I am seeking to help you reach. But how do we get there? It takes Courage and Hard Work.
This is not going to be easy, in fact you may feel worse for a while and think, “Why am I doing this? I am not happier now than before I started. In fact I am more miserable now than I was before.” But when you think these things consider the person who undergoes surgery to remove a cancerous tumor. It is not a pleasant thing to be cut open by a surgeon, and yet the long-term benefit is worth the temporary discomfort. Unfortunately, in counseling there is no anesthesia. But there is Trust and Hope and Love; these are a few of the things that I offer you in this process.
M.A. Psychology (Counseling): Saybrook University (LIOS), Seattle, WA
Graduated: June 2015
B.A. Liberal Arts: Gutenberg College, Eugene, OR
Graduated: June 2010
Theology/Philosophy: L’Abri Fellowship, Switzerland,
Attended: Summer 2006, September 2007-September 2008
Photography: Chattanooga State Community College, Chattanooga, TN
Attended: January-June 2004
Language/History: The University of Granada, Spain
Attended: August-December 2003.
Professional Associations and Skills: Clinicians Network of Central Oregon, CPR/First Aid Certified, Spanish Speaker.
I have trained in:
Cognitive-Behavioural Therapy
Narrative Therapy
Solution Focused Brief Therapy
Structural Family Therapy
Family Systems Therapy
I am also familiar with:
Play Therapy
Logotherapy
Existential Therapy
Contextual Therapy.
While all of these models of therapy have their strengths I believe that the most important factor that contributes to positive change is the relationship between the client and the counselor. The relationship that I seek to establish with my clients is one of commitment, respect, and love. A mentor of mine once told me, “What has been broken in relationship can only be healed in relationship”. I seek to establish a relationship with my clients that fosters healing.
I was born in Los Angeles and I grew up in Las Vegas until I was twelve years old. My family then moved to Colombia (South America) for a year, then we moved to Texas, Tennessee, and finally Georgia. My senior year in high school I decided I wanted to study Art but I came to the conclusion that Art is the kind of thing that says something about life and I wasn’t sure what to say.
I decided that I needed to see the world…
and gain some experience in order to be an artist and say something about life. I travelled and worked odd jobs as I made my way throughout the USA, South America, Australia, Sri Lanka, Morocco, and Europe where I stayed for just over a year.
In Europe (Switzerland) I studied philosophy and theology at an institute called L’Abri Fellowship. It was here that I realized two things: (1.) I wanted to be a counselor. (2.) That although I had travelled and had many experiences which informed me about myself and the present world, I still knew very little about how the world ended up the way it is and how I ended up the way I am.
It was then that I decided that I needed to find a school that could tell me how the world became what it is today.
I found Gutenberg College (a Great Books College) in Eugene, Oregon and graduated four years later with a Bachelor in Liberal Arts. Now that I had a handle on how the world ended up the way it is I needed to focus on how I ended up the way I am. I found Saybrook University and attended LIOS (their campus in Seattle). Two years later I graduated with a Master in Psychology.
In addition to having the skills of a Traveller, Scholar, and Counselor I have a deep passion for helping people. I found this passion when I was at L’Abri in Switzerland where I was surrounded by a group of people who truly wanted to know who I was and what it was that I was searching for.
These people loved me as I kicked and screamed…
about life being unfair, about being a victim to society, about not having the family that I thought I deserved, about how lonely life is, about being hurt, and about wanting to feel loved more then anything. When I was done kicking and screaming they were still there: listening, paying attention, acknowledging my pain, being curious, helping me clarify things, giving me concepts/ideas that helped me understand what it was that I was saying and feeling, and they never once got defensive or told me I was wrong or that I was being “rebellious”.
After L’Abri I found the same kind of people at Gutenberg where I kicked and screamed some more. And then I found the same kind of people at LIOS where I kicked and screamed some more. And at both places the people there just loved me. Now I want to be that kind of person, I want to be a loving person, and in many ways I already am. At least that is what my wife tells me, that is what my friends tell me, that is what my teachers tell me, and that is what my heart tells me.
It’s been a long road…
and while I thought that my dream had always been to be an Artist, to say something about life, I have realized that I have had plenty to say but that I have been scared that no one would listen. But I feel heard now and I am ready to listen to you. I am ready to give you the gift that I have been given.