“Helping people become free so they can be who God designed them to be and they can live out the purpose to which God is calling them”  has been my mission in life for over three decades as a therapist and life coach. Many people, though, have things in their life that act as obstacles toward that, even if they love Jesus and have given their life to him. To name a few…trauma whether from childhood or more recent events, broken relationships, family stress, major losses, medical concerns, job/career struggles, or memories of a catastrophic event. And none of us are exempt from some pain. Even if we have good coping skills, sometimes life is stressful enough those skills no longer work. We become anxious, depressed, or angry, and then sometimes ashamed that we feel that way, especially if the faith we grew up with said it was sinful to feel that way. Being a believer and follower of Jesus doesn’t keep us from experiencing stress and pain but it does mean we aren’t alone with it. It means Jesus wants to shine his light into the darkest places in our lives and bring us to a place of healing and transformation. Therapy, Life Coaching, Healing Prayer, and scripture are wonderful tools Jesus uses to help us become more free to say, “God, do anything in me you want to do, do anything with me you want to do, and do anything through me you want to do.”

Years ago, I met my husband in seminary. We got married and eventually started a family. I was a full-time, stay-at-home Mom while my husband pastored several churches. Through those years I noticed a lot of people living with anxiety, depression, and shame, but I didn’t really know how to help them other than to pray with them or point them to scripture. I eventually felt called to go back to grad school and become a therapist. In the years since school I’ve incorporated a number of different kinds of therapies into what I offer (Cognitive Therapy, EMDR, Internal Family Systems, Emotional Freedom Technique, and others). Because there is no “one size fits all,” I like to give everyone I work with an opportunity to try different modalities. Then we use the ones they like the most and that work the best for them. Today, it is one of my greatest joys to see people embrace how incredibly loved and accepted they are by Jesus and become more free to live out of their truest identity and their life’s purpose.