I am a Licensed Clinical Therapist in three states – NC, MI, PA, and an ordained Chaplain with the International Fellowship of Chaplains (I.F.O.C.).  As Founder and CEO of Artizo Ministries, a nonprofit organization, I seek to provide professional, compassionate counseling that considers the whole person—emotional, relational, physical, and spiritual. For more than 30 years, I have worked with diverse populations in a variety of clinical settings.

I specialize in trauma treatment and EMDR and work with youth and adults experiencing anxiety, depression, PTSD, relationship difficulties, self-esteem concerns, life transitions, and the lasting effects of painful experiences. I also work with individuals struggling with substance use, addiction, and recovery. My approach is individualized and trauma-informed and includes EMDR, cognitive behavioral interventions, and other approaches based upon the needs of each client.

My Christian faith shapes how I understand people and healing through God’s perfect love. I believe every person is created by God with inherent worth and purpose. Yet painful experiences can leave wounds that influence how we see ourselves, our relationships, and sometimes even God.

One of the Scriptures at the heart of my work is Ephesians 3:17–19 and its beautiful picture of being “rooted and established in love.” I believe healing involves more than understanding what happened to us. Painful experiences can teach us things about ourselves—I am not enough. I am unlovable. I am unsafe. I don’t matter. Those beliefs can become deeply rooted and continue influencing our emotions, relationships, choices, and even how we see God. In counseling, I help clients identify those beliefs, understand where they came from, and begin replacing what was rooted in fear, shame, rejection, or hurt with truth.

Scripture, prayer, Biblical principles, forgiveness, grace, identity in Christ, and spiritual reflection may be incorporated into our work according to each client’s needs and preferences. I believe Christians also need a safe place to be honest about depression, anxiety, trauma, anger, addiction, grief, relationship struggles, doubt, and difficult questions without judgment or the assumption that struggling means they have failed in their faith.

My own journey with God has been an adventure, and certainly not a straight line. I fully embraced Christianity in 1976 while performing in the musical Godspell, beginning a lifelong relationship with Christ and a love for combining faith, creativity, and service.

Before becoming a counselor, life took me down some unexpected roads. I attended Penn State University and spent summers working in the steel mills of Western Pennsylvania. Following my parents’ divorce, I left college and joined the U.S. Navy, where I served for four years as a cryptologist. Later, I worked as a computer programmer at Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. While attending ministry school in Charlotte, North Carolina, I also served as a pastor for a time in singles ministry and evangelism.

My faith and love of theatre have continued to intersect throughout my life. I have developed dramas for domestic and international mission work, including writing a full musical play. Having lived, worked, served, and traveled among people from many different backgrounds, I have developed a deep appreciation for the diversity of people’s experiences and the many different paths our lives can take.

After all the different roads my own life has taken, perhaps it isn’t surprising that I am especially drawn to helping people navigate difficult seasons of life. My hope is to help you heal from what has happened, understand what those experiences have taught you to believe, and discover greater freedom to become who God created you to be.