About Me

I grew up in a small town in West Texas. I completed my undergraduate education at Hardin-Simmons University and then moved to the Dallas area where I completed my doctoral training at Texas Woman’s University. While there, I worked at a college counseling center and a community mental health agency. I came to Illinois in 2005 to complete my education with an internship at Allendale Association in Lake Villa, Illinois. While at Allendale, I worked with children and adolescents who were in a residential or therapeutic day school program. After completing my internship, I came to Heartland where I serve as the Training Director and Therapist. I am very passionate about helping others through therapy and I enjoy providing training programs for students and staff. Being the Training Director and a therapist at Heartland allows me to be involved in both of these passions.

 

Counseling Style

I would describe my counseling style as collaborative. Although I have been trained in counseling and believe that I have great therapy skills, I also believe that my clients are experts on their lives. Thus, I attempt to work together with my clients to help them meet their goals. Although I tailor my therapy to individual clients, I often find that it is our negative thoughts and our inability to be authentic in our relationships that cause emotional distress. As a result I help clients do two things. I help them identify and change negative thoughts that are causing them difficulties. Secondly, I help them to be authentic in expressing their true thoughts and feelings. I have found that many people put up walls to protect themselves and portray themselves differently than how they feel on the inside. Although this may work for some time, when we wall off our true thoughts and feelings, it eventually causes us distress. I help clients to express these thoughts and feelings and become more authentic in their relationships.

 

Specialties

Although I see people of all age ranges, I specialize in working with children and adolescents and their families. I also really enjoy working with women who are feeling down due to life stressors.

 

Hobbies and Interests

My biggest hobby is probably running. I started running a few years ago and decided to run a marathon. I completed the Cleveland marathon in May of 2006. My decision to run a marathon was quite a surprise to me and those that I am close to since I hated running throughout my involvement in high school athletics. My joy of running developed once I joined a running group and realized the enjoyment that comes from running with a great group of people. I also enjoy playing with my dog Charlie or watching television.

 

Favorites

My favorite TV shows include "Grey’s Anatomy," "Boston Legal," and "CSI Miami."