Services Offerred
Individual Counseling
Our world -ranging from global stressors to your own day-to day- can feel daunting, unfathomable and sometimes unfair. With only so much capacity to navigate stressors, it's ok to feel overwhelmed and unsure where to start, especially if you're navigating these stressors with a diagnosis such as anxiety, depression, or a neurodevelopmental disorder.
This is especially the case when illness or healthcare complexity -whether you are the patient, a caregiver, or a family member- is part of your reality. Perhaps it takes more energy than you feel you have to show up for the life unfolding in front of you. Perhaps you are unsure of how to take steps forward after running on empty after months—or years—of appointments, uncertainty and emotional heaviness. Or, perhaps you have been blindsided by medical information that feels like too much to possibly process.
I know this is vulnerable work. It's ok to agree that you need to prioritize yourself, but not be sure what this could look like. In our time together, I'll provide a judgement free space for you to share your frustrations and find ways to build resilience.
Grief Care
If you are finding this page because the death of a someone you love has left you reeling, I recognize that I can’t even imagine to know exactly what you’re experiencing right now.
I can however, imagine that in the time since your loss, you perhaps have been offered condolences that have felt much too simple to honor the complexity and depth of your emotions. Or that you’ve felt stuck in slow motion while flabbergasted by a world that has the nerve to continue bustling around you. Perhaps you are feeling pressure to be a rock amongst others around you, while mustering every last ounce of energy for the simplest of tasks.
The fact is, grief is never simple. Sometimes, it can feel especially hard if you had a complicated relationship with the person who died, if their death was sudden or traumatic, or if you are experiencing grief with a mental health or neurodevelopmental diagnosis. Usually, grievers find that grief does not fit into the tidy predictable stages that maybe they expected it to. Grief is hard because it honors the relationship you will always have for your special person - one that is dynamic, powerful and forever connecting.
My goal as your grief counselor is to provide space to explore all of the complicated and hard feelings. In our time together, your grief will be honored - not rushed, fixed or compared, and we will work together to pull threads of strength and comfort from your memories.
A Special Note for Parents
Families grieve together, but everyone still has their own experience. If you are in the very difficult position of navigating grief while also parenting a child grieving that same loss, life can feel even harder. I have a special interest in supporting parents caring for children who are grieving, and believe that one of the best ways to help a grieving child is to support, bolster and empower the adults in their lives. Your child's reactions during this time may be quite different from your own and they are navigating their own experience.
There are lots of scary and discouraging statistics about how grief impacts childhood - but know that kids and teens do have the capacity to grow in a healthy way when surrounded by supportive adults who have a solid understanding of how grief can show up in different stages of development. I'm committed to ensuring that you have the information and support you need to help your child walk their own path.
A Special Note for Kids
Wow - There's no way you could have ever imagined you'd be a grieving teen, or that you'd be looking at a website about grief therapy. It stinks that you're here.
If you are here, I imagine that you've had lots of changes in your life recently - maybe ones that you're feeling angry, irritated or confused about. Maybe you wonder if other kids have felt this way.
In working as a counselor for kids and teens, I can assure you that other kids feel a huge range of feelings - I care about yours, and if we work together, YOU get to be the expert in how you feel and decide what we talk about. My role is to make sure you have a safe spot to get support around what's important to you.
Professional Supervision and Consultation
Coming soon, I will be available to provide clinical supervision for CSWA's in the state of Oregon who are working towards full licensure. Preference given to CSWA's working in adult or pediatric hospice, palliative care, or grief-focused settings.
Additionally, I have extensive experience in teaching about grief and loss, and am available for consultation or presentations to healthcare professionals, community organizations, and/or therapists seeking expertise on supporting grieving families and individuals. Possible topics could include navigating developmental considerations or family systems, complicated and prolonged grief diagnoses, the how-to’s of providing anticipatory guidance, disenfranchised or non-death loss, or self-care. Please reach out to discuss the needs of your practice or organization and receive an estimate for services.