About Me

 

I'm the Associate Director of The Center for Rural Psychology, the non-profit training agency for which Heartland Counseling is th training clinic. I'm also a therapist with Heartland Counseling. I primarily see adults and couples in therapy with the full spectrum of psychological and relational difficulties.

 

Counseling Style

I typically like to begin from a very practical and problem-solving orientation in therapy to reduce the impact of the things we can change right away. Some symptoms can be addressed in a short period of time (like insomnia) and others require a long-term focus (such as mending troubling relationships). I feel I am able to be very directive in therapy when it will benefit the goals of my clients, and can be very non-directive and empathic when what is most needed is a supportive environment to explore one's difficulties. I believe that the highest level of satisfaction one can achieve comes from learning to form and maintain healthy and happy relationships, and to get to a point in life where we can make decisions based on our goals rather than our fears.

 

Training Background

I completed my undergraduate work in Texas, and moved to Florida for my Ph.D. work and my Psychopharmacology graduate degree. While there I trained with the Program for the Seriously Emotionally Disturbed (PSED), and the Trauma Resulution and Integration Program (TRIP). Both were intensive, year-long rotations focused on major mental health disorders. I have experience working with Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder, Addicitons and with the unique therapy needs of adult survovors of childhood sexual and physical abuse. I also specialize in the treatment of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

 

A lot of people ask me about my degree in Psychopharmacology. I don't prescribe medications. Medication training isn't a major focus in Psychology doctoral programs, as there is already a full 4-5 yeasrs of training involved. I got my Psychopharmacology degree to help me understand the use of medications in treatment better, and to help me integrate that information into the therapy I do. A lot of people want to know if medications are a good choice for them, or in some instances what needs to happen for them to no longer need medication. Those are specific times I feel I can be most helpful.

 

Hobbies and Interests

My primary hobby is scuba diving and competitive freediving (breath-hold diving). I have been diving for 15 years, and hold 21 scuba instructor certifications. I recently had the pleasure of training with the current world-record holder in breath-hold diving, which was one of the coolest experiences in my life. I love spearfishing on weekends and filming underwater shipwrecks. I went to Florida earlier this summer to train for Freediving, and increased my personal best breath-hold diving depth to 117 feet, and my personal best static breath-hold to just over 4 minutes. In the summer, I dive in Lake Michigan and Lake Geneva, WI. In the winter, we go to Wisconsin and dive under the ice in several lakes.