I’m glad you’re here!
I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in the state of Louisiana. I’ve led frontline teams and managed nonprofit programs for over ten years.
With the perspective of this experience, combined with my own winding path toward mental wellness, I have developed an expertise in helping people from all sorts of backgrounds clarify their values, implement healthy boundaries, shine light on their own (often untended) needs, and move in their desired direction with increased balance and gratification.
I am a trauma therapist with a focus on self-compassion, work-life integration, clear and healthy boundaries, life transitions, helper burnout, and compassion fatigue. I am continually learning and trying on new tools for my own growth and for use in my practice.
I integrate a variety of methods and approaches in sessions, including EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), somatic skills building, self-compassion, values clarification, visualization, role play, nature, art, music, movement, mind-body awareness, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and polyvagal theory. I use a trauma responsive approach in my work with all clients.
Sessions are unique and methods vary according to individual clients’ preferences and needs.
My Core Values as a Therapist for Helpers / Healers
In the core values definitions, the words “we”, “us”, and “our” refer to the general culture of helping/healing professionals. The generalized experiences described aren’t intended to represent the individual experience but instead to provide a starting point for your values exploration.
Tenderness
Helping/healing work is challenging and can be exhausting and depleting.
We deserve to have our minds and bodies treated tenderly, just as we would wish for a loved one outside of ourselves. (Psst - We are our #1 loved one.) Sometimes, to create an environment hospitable to tenderness, we have to be firm with our boundaries.
Action
Desired changes, internal and external, come about through committed, values-aligned action.
Small actions compound into larger, more noticeable changes. All values-aligned actions are cause for celebration!
Flexibility
Flexible thinking, or psychological flexibility, sets us up to adapt and respond to changing events with less resistance and less suffering.
When we are rigid in our thoughts or actions, we set ourselves up to be more easily overwhelmed by unexpected events.
Intersectionality
Healing happens when individuals feel celebrated as they are and supported in creating the changes that matter most to them.
As a human and as a therapist based in the US, I am hopeful about our collective capacity to heal from centuries of violent white supremacy, patriarchy and heteronormativity. I am committed to ongoing inquiry and feedback about how to use my privilege in a way that supports (and at the very least does not distract from) this healing process.
Self Compassion
Transformative healing happens from the inside out.
Transformation begins at the individual level. We have to heal ourselves while we work to help others heal. Self-neglect is not the same thing as selflessness and is a guaranteed path to burnout.
Presence
Attuning to your present moment is a radical, counter-cultural act.
We have been conditioned to believe that the busier our minds and bodies are, the more effective, impressive, and sacrificing we are. This busyness can be a means of avoiding unpleasant sensations in our minds or bodies. When we turn our attention to our present experience, we increase our ability to feel, learn and grow from whatever is occurring right then.
Curiosity
Just as shame can send an unpleasant feeling deeper into the shadows, curiosity gently draws out the root cause of discomfort.
When we make the shift from shame and avoidance of our unpleasant experiences to genuine interest and curiosity about the nature of the discomfort, we gain valuable perspective and can begin to heal.
