My professional experience spans across two major disciplines:  nursing and therapy.  The bottom line is – I just love people!  I love them at any level of connection, whether it is casual, brief encounters, family ties, friendships, and/or professional contacts.  I guess I have designed my personal and professional lives around trying to help people find their way to inner joy and a peace that allows them freedom from bondage to painful memories and current situations that steal their joy.  I have deduced that this all came about because of my own childhood trauma and dreams of helping others cope with a damaged body, spirit and soul.

I spent 20+ years as a Registered Nurse “taking care” of those whose bodies and souls had been broken and needed repair.  I loved this profession and I began to notice that I was spending more time jumping through hoops, staring at a computer screen and documenting outcomes that I had little time left to spend with patients.  This realization led me to explore marriage and family therapy and I was hooked immediately! I began my training in 1993 and completed my MS degree from ECU in 1995, working as a home health nurse to fund part of my expenses.  

I worked for 8 years in the agency where I did my practicum.  In 2002, my husband and I opened our private practice in Wilmington, NC, where we practiced until 2008 when I moved my practice into our home.  During that time, I had an opportunity to study with a small group of pastoral counselors re: supervision and I earned a Doctorate in Psychology from Graduate Theological Foundation in Illinois. This was informative and challenging as this was not precisely my field of expertise and it challenged me to see therapy and mental health through a different lens.  I learned so much about psychodynamic theory and practice and was able to integrate that into my own theory of change which is Natural Systems Theory.  In May of 2016 we relocated to Lexington, NC, where I resumed my in-home office and where I continue seeing clients today.  

In 2011, I started my supervisory training and fell in love collaborating with students to help them hone their skills as therapists.  I have a passion for this addition to my professional repertoire, again guiding budding therapists to uncover their own internal resources and to believe in themselves.  Supervision has become my priority as I am dedicated to being part of the process for supervisees becoming the best therapists they can be.  It is such an honor for me to observe most of all, the confidence that begins to evolve after awhile and the innovative ideas and approaches these supervisees create out of that confidence.

I have certifications in different areas that do not seem important to mention here.  Suffice it to say that I bring 30 years of experience to this profession, and that is not to say that I know more than anyone else.  I try and familiarize myself with the supervisee’s theory of change and work with them in sharpening their understanding of that theory and how to apply interventions based on the theory, while incorporating systems theory into the treatment plan.   I just hope that I can equip them with a sense of purpose and some skills to help them feel accomplished.