My story

When I graduated with my Master’s Degree in Science Education from St. Bonaventure University, I wasn’t much different than most of my clients. I was unsure what I wanted to do and where I wanted to work, feeling pretty lost and hoping that things would just work out with time.  The only thing I knew was that I wanted to help people, the way that so many mentors helped me. 

I grew up very poor on the streets of Colorado with a mother that had me at 15.  She moved out there to escape the control of her family and wanted to raise me on her own. I however, ended up alone with no one else but her trying to figure out life with a child as a parent.  No family, no father, and no support.  I can assure you, there isn’t much I haven’t been through in life!  

I was looking for answers.

My first job was at a rape crisis center where all of my clients had been severely traumatized in some way.  Working here gave me the perspective I needed to see the deep wounds people are carrying around based on circumstances that were out of their control.  I felt the injustice and the shame they were carrying around with them, and became determined to figure out a way to help! Eventually, I received my Certificate in Trauma Counseling from the UB School of Social work and learned many invaluable tools that I still use today.  I also began talking in the community about trauma-informed care and how many “mental disorders” in the DSM-IV have an underlying issue of unresolved childhood trauma.  I started thinking if we could find a way to help resolve emotional pain from past and present circumstances, would people naturally get better?

Then I discovered EMDR. 

EMDR therapy was relatively new in Western New York when I decided to take the risk and figure out what this “taboo” therapy was all about.  I enrolled in the EMDR Basic Training Course at The University of Buffalo’s School of Social Work in 2009. Here, I was required to work through one childhood memory of my choice. I chose one that brought tears to my eyes just thinking about it, let alone talking about it. After one EMDR session, every emotion I had toward it vanished! It was like EMDR reorganized every single thought and emotion I had so it no longer affected me! I couldn’t believe it! I found the answer and I wanted to share it with the world.  

From there, things just started to flow.  

My training in EMDR led me to work at Kaleida Health’s Trauma and Addiction Program (MICA) with some other very skilled and highly trained clinicians. Here, I was responsible for individual therapy as well as running skill-based groups such as Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Schema Focused Therapy, Seeking Safety & Dissociative Identity Groups.  I learned an incredible amount of information on the mind-body connection plus how to really help people with really adverse situations.  Working there truly gave me the skills I needed to build a solid foundation as a therapist though I knew my journey was much much deeper. 

I became A seeker…

With all the training I’ve done, I started to ask myself questions about the mind-body connection and what we are really capable of as a species. I wanted to know if using eye movements can resolve trauma, what else are we capable of? Can we all heal in a natural way? Do we really need to treat someone as if they have a “chemical imbalance?” And why do we live in a society that pushes medication for emotional issues? I wanted to know more and I was hungry for answers! I began to study the brain and how humans adapt to adverse experiences.  I discovered that there are real, legit reasons that people are suffering. I began to undestand that the body is a record of the past that keeps replaying over, and over and over again until we give it our attention. It’s like it’s screaming PAY ATTENTION TO ME!  The more we ignore what is going on internally, the more we try to fix it with some temporary “feel good” thing at the moment. This is the basis for disease and many of the unpleasant symptoms people are walking around with every day. Learning this, I decided to leave the medical model of the world and decided to take a holistic approach to therapy.

So, I ventured out on my own.  

In 2013, I opened my own practice and began developing plans for people that used the whole brain/mind-body approach to healing.  Being my own boss I can do things my way, without the limitations of an agency. I strongly despise pushing medication or labels on people. Here, I can take the time to develop the relationship on my terms and truely see the progress I’ve always hoped for. The opportunities are endless and I just keep growing professionally.  In 2017, I was trained in NET MindBody (a stress reduction technique) that uses muscle testing to release stuck emotions and emotional pain.  I am helping people every day without the use of harsh medications or intensive therapy. I know that if I am capable of overcoming my past and living a healthy, happy life, anyone can!

I absolutely love what I do.