Family therapy and counseling in Durham, NC

I’ve been practicing therapy for 25 years, which has included 12 years in NC and prior practice in both Kansas and New Mexico. I’ve worked in community mental health most of my career so I’ve had the opportunity to serve all ages and provide treatment for a huge variety of mental health concerns. I’m pretty down to Earth, open, honest, and genuine. I can be direct when needed to help bring awareness or light to a potential problem area while at the same time me providing support and encouragement. I enjoy hearing people’s life stories and helping individuals navigate their way through difficult life situations and problematic symptoms. No judgment, just a person available to help you find what you need.

I have worked in substance abuse treatment for more than twenty years. I have provided clinical treatment in a multitude environments. This includes medication-assisted treatment, medication-assisted detoxification, inpatient and residential, psychiatric hospitals, correctional institutions, and tele-health.

I enjoy working with people who are interested in returning to the truth of who they are. I value people. Intuition is often within my work with people. I am honored to walk with people in their orientation to healing and health in the ways important to them. Harmony in mind, body, and spirit.

A holistic trauma informed approach with a culturally grounded orientation to care is my offering. I love to incorporate breath work and somatic work in with talk therapy all while centering values.

I respect the courage of getting to this point. It’s reasonable that we all would benefit from support so I am happy to walk you home to you, the truth of you that deserves liberation, healing and health because your life has value and I’m so glad you’re here. You deserve it all.

As a therapist, my goal is to create a space where individuals, teens, and couples feel safe, respected, and truly heard. Whether you're navigating anxiety, life transitions, relationship challenges, or just trying to find a clearer path forward—therapy can be a powerful place to reconnect with yourself and your goals.

I believe therapy works best when clients feel safe, heard, and genuinely supported. I strive to create a warm, nonjudgmental, and collaborative environment where clients can show up as their authentic selves. My approach is compassionate, direct when needed, and focused on helping clients build practical tools for everyday life while also exploring deeper emotional patterns and experiences.

I enjoy working with individuals navigating anxiety, life transitions, relationship concerns, self-esteem challenges, stress, identity exploration, and emotional overwhelm. I am passionate about supporting LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC clients and creating an affirming therapeutic space where clients feel respected and understood.

I understand that starting therapy can feel vulnerable, and my goal is to meet clients where they are while helping them move toward healing, clarity, and meaningful growth.

Partner 1: “I reach for you, but it feels like you’re already gone.” I’m left wondering if I matter to you at all.” Partner 2: “When you come close, I feel the pressure to be perfect, so I pull back to protect us both.” These unspoken messages leave couples lonely and stuck. I help break this anxious–avoidant cycle so partners feel safe, seen, and deeply connected again.

“I don’t understand why I want closeness so badly, yet feel disappointed when I have it. Why do I feel lonelier than others, even when I’m not alone?” Or: “I care deeply, but people say I’m distant or hard to read. When emotions get intense, I shut down—not because I don’t feel, but because it feels like too much.”

These quiet tensions live beneath awareness for many people. Longing and self-protection pull in opposite directions. Needs feel confusing, emotions feel overwhelming or unsafe, and core beliefs quietly form—I’m too much, I’m not enough, connection costs me something.

I help people loosen these patterns, reconcile the Self with more truthful and adaptive beliefs, and move toward self-acceptance and interdependence—where connection no longer threatens safety, but deepens it.

After nine years serving in the U.S. Coast Guard, I realized my deepest fulfillment came not from fixing systems, but from walking with people. Leaving the military was not a departure from service—it was a continuation of it. I pursued social work and theological training to better support people in their most important relationships. Today, my practice is devoted to couples counseling and trauma-informed care. Drawing primarily from Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) and EMDR, I help couples slow conflict, understand what drives disconnection, and emotional safety. As a veteran and seminary-trained therapist, I bring structure, compassion, and steady hope—meeting clients with respect, grace, and a belief in lasting change.

I hold a bachelor’s degree in Sociology and a master’s degree in Conflict Studies and Dispute Resolution from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. I also hold a master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy/Counseling, with honors of distinction from Capella University. I am a trained mediator who loves the opportunity to allow clients to be exactly who they are, while they figure out who they want to be.