I characterize myself as attentive, integrous, and personable. Outside of counseling I am a Broadway junkie, musicals and plays alike, submerging into a story for 3 hours.
My professional background as a military veteran and retired police officer revolved around working with people at various stages of their lives and similarities and/or differences from me. I graduated with a MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling with a concentration in children and adolescents. This concentration was to help build my understanding of childhood traumas as I completed my internship working in foster care. This experience will help me help my adult clients navigate through unprocessed traumas, thoughts and/or issues that may have first presented in childhood. My specialties/certifications included working with adults, the juvenile population and being part of the Crisis Intervention Team for my community and surrounding communities. I also am a Certified Clinical Trauma Professional. This experience has given me the ability to connect through different aspects, allowing me to have an empathetic ear, without judgement with a vast array of people different or similar to me. Culture is an important aspect to working with clients and culture is not exclusive to nationality/ethnicity. We are all part of several subcultures in our individual lives which require understanding, I can provide the understanding needed in various cultures. My counseling style would be best described as a use of a combination of therapeutic methods tailored to the needs of the client, what will be beneficial for one client will not always be right for another. I am not the expert in the room, my client is, that understanding allows me to establish a safe environment for my clients to steer the session that will best benefit them to process through their thoughts, issues, and concerns important to them.