Professional Bio

I completed my undergraduate work in Psychology at the University of Redlands in Redlands, CA and earned my Master of Arts degree from Loyola Marymount University in Santa Monica, CA. I pursued further education through the Christian Counseling and Education Foundation in Philadelphia, PA before focusing my efforts on certification as a Clinical Traumatologist through the Green Cross Academy of Traumatology in Washington DC. Additionally, I am certified as an Expert Level Life Coach through ILCT and ETC and am Level Two EMDR trained. 

 

My memberships in professional organizations include the American Counseling Association, the Christian Counseling Association, Green Cross Academy of Traumatology and the American Association of Christian Counselors. Recently I’ve had the privilege of sitting on numerous boards including The Lookout Pastoral Retreat in Arkansas and the Advisory Board for the Dance Arts League of Atlantic County, Inc. where I assisted in the development of a new program for survivors of domestic violence, sexual abuse, and human trafficking. Over the course of 30+ years, I have worked in psychiatric hospitals, residential treatment centers, for non-profits, and in private practice. For a 10+ year interim, I was a contract lobbyist on the state level for issues relevant to what I’d witnessed in my practice and sat on a Governor’s Advisory Committee for special interest groups representing emotional health issues. 

 

I am a visiting Professor of Practice at Hope College in Michigan and have taught courses in Romania, Puerto Rico, Tanzania, Spain, and Ireland. I deploy to crisis situations stateside and abroad through GCAT and have provided supervision for students of Divine Mercy University during their international intensives with marginalized populations. As a bi-vocational missionary, I serve as a mental health advisor for Communitas International and offer additional support and counseling as part of their Staff Care & Development Team. Through this ministry, I am available for counseling, and emotional and spiritual support for their 200+ missionaries who are placed internationally, as well as to referrals who are brought to me through those individuals. I also have an online practice through E-therapy Café based out of West Virginia.