**Or more accurately, I have been driven for as long as I can remember to try to understand.**

I grew up in the rural midwest, in poverty, in the 1980’s and 90’s. One incredible day, I walked out of my room and into our trailer’s living room. On the floor was a huge stack of books. Encyclopedias! Each volume held facts about the world that started with the corresponding alphabet letter along the spine.

I remember feeling so hopeful. Like I had all of the answers to life right in front of me. “Antartica” and “Otter” and “Woodrow Wilson”- I wanted to absorb it all!

I was determined to learn every single fact about the entire world, and I figured with the arrival of these books I would obviously attain that. Probably by the time I was middle-aged.

So I think that mostly catches us up to now.
And why I’m distinctly qualified to share knowledge.

***And yes, I’m definitely joking***

I haven’t found any way to know everything, but I’m ok with that.

I’ve heard it said before that “experts” have more questions than answers. In other words, more questions arise the more closely we look at something.

We begin to see that what we thought we knew was only a part of ALL there is.

As we gain experience, we begin to ask questions that get us closer to the truth.

We can discover so much more when we know what to ask.

That is what my experience as a healer, coach and therapist for the past twenty years has fostered in me-

I’m really skilled at:

Asking questions- the questions that create insights, inspire change and matter most for my clients.
Listening with intention, so that we don’t miss any important clues.
Guiding with discernment so that we minimize wasted time and energy on what doesn’t matter.

Some other things about me:

I’ve been married, divorced and reMarried.
now to mark, pictured here. He was married once before also.
we both agree that we learned a lot about the kind of partner we wanted to be- and what we needed in a relationship- through those experiences.

Healing Path

I witnessed a lot of pain in the adults around me as a child. Like many, there is trauma in my family that had been passed through the generations.
women in my family became mothers in their teens, as far back as my great-great grandmother, and perhaps further. I was the first to graduate from high school, let alone college.
My mother struggled with an addiction to meth amphetamines and was involved with drug trade to support it. I am incredibly grateful that me and my sister were able to take a different path despite living in those conditions. we had wonderful great-grandparents who did what they could to provide some stability, and most of all, unconditional love to us.

I originally went to college to be an artist, but in a psychology class one day I was again finding myself looking at a book that I felt held all the answers! Finally I could begin to understand the circumstances that I was born into. I finished the art degree, but went on to pursue a career as a therapist.

Supporting people who experienced trauma, and seeing how adult relationships could be impacted by unhealed wounds led me to pursue a specialization in Sex Therapy.

My career as a Licensed Professional Counselor and Certified Sex Therapist has really helped me to understand relationships in all of their stages.

This and my own personal experiences, are where my passion for sharing relationship guidance come from. I’ve seen so much and I believe everyone should be empowered to have a healthy, loving and supportive relationship. Or be unpartnered if that is what feels right!

Leadership

A few years ago, i felt called to go back to school for an executive mba. while working full-time and raising three kids, fun!
Mark tolerated me through many crabby days after late nights finishing homework.
i am a procrastinator, a by-product of my adhd. it took me many years to accept, but doing so has helped me to leverage my strong points and stop working against myself because of shame around “not having it together” the way that I thought i should.

Why do I share this? Well, I believe that part of what keeps us stuck is internalized shame. Our minds are great at admonishing us and leading us to feel that we should be something or someone that we are not. This is well-intentioned as our brains are highly evolved to detect threats and keep us safe. And they often do this by pushing a panic button of sorts.

Self-awareness is such an incredible superpower. And I believe that people who are leaders, those who are on path to influence, motivate, inspire and manage others absolutely need to be self-aware. When we are not, we risk being the kind of leaders who do harm, even if unintentionally.

Knowing ourselves can be of enormous benefit not just to others, but also to ourselves- in service of our most treasured dreams and goals.

Education:

BA Studio Art, BA Psychology, Certificate Art Therapy
Webster University, 2002

MA Counseling
Webster University, 2005

Executive MBA
Washington University, 2023

Credentials:

Licensed Professional Counselor, Missouri
Certified Sex Therapist, AASECT
Holy Fire Karuna Reiki Master, ICRT

Or more accurately, I have been driven for as long as I can remember to try to understand.