EXPERIENCE:

Currently I am in private practice in Granbury, Texas where I have lived since 1981. The most important aspect of my work is that I love what I do!  It is an honor and privilege to work with clients, observing firsthand the amazing human mind and the strength of human resilience. I love providing a safe environment for client’s self-discovery and healing. Going on this journey with clients inspires me as nothing else does, and has inculcated in me a deep respect for their inherent worth no matter what life has brought their way. Part of my job is to help each client reconnect with the realization of that worth.

Prior to my current private practice, I worked at Johnson County Family Crisis Center for eleven years, starting in 2006. There was only one criteria for becoming a client, having had experienced trauma at some time in life. That covers just about everyone. In 2009, I was trained in (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) EMDR, a type of therapy particularly effective with trauma, and I became certified in EMDR in 2012.

In 2003, I was hired by Excel Center, a psychiatric outpatient facility for children, as their pre-adolescent therapist. I went on to work with children from ages four to eighteen at that location and in the associated Millwood Hospital inpatient facility. When Excel started their Spirituality Program, I became lead therapist and helped in developing the programming.   Eventually, I worked with outpatient adults at Excel Center Arlington and inpatient adults at Millwood Hospital.

In 2002, while working on my license, I had a Christian counseling private practice under the supervision of Ann Chester LCSW. I worked with both adults and children. In addition, I facilitated group therapy for women who had diagnosable Post Traumatic Stress Disorder from having been pressured into having an abortion.

In 2001, at the University of Texas at Arlington, I interned at the Community Counseling Center  which serviced students in the Arlington school districts and their families.

From 1997-1999, I volunteered as a lay counselor at the Brazos Pregnancy Center. There I taught parenting classes and talked to women in crisis.

EDUCATION:

Master of Science in Social Work degree in 2002 from the University of Texas at Arlington.

Bachelors of Science in Geology degree in 1996 from Tarleton State University.

OTHER TRAINING:

I have over 273 continuing education units in EMDR as of July 2023

Workshops that were most influential to my EMDR work were

Carol Forgash’s workshop, Healing the Heart of Trauma with EMDR and Ego State Therapy (2015)

Julie Green’s workshops, Mindfulness, Meditation and EMDR (2012); Earning Secure Attachment: EMDR, Mindfulness & Self-Compassion (2015)

Katie O’Shea’s workshop, Reconnecting the Self: Reprocessing Early Trauma and Neglect in Implicit Memory with EMDR 

Craig Penner’s workshops, Integrating Somatic Psychotherapy with EMDR Therapy (2017 and 2018)

PROFESSIONAL GROUPS AND MEMBERSHIPS:

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing International Association (EMDRIA)

A monthly meeting of Local EMDR therapists advertised through Compassion Works