Find out more about my journey, experience, and FAQ’s
Nearly two decades in the mental health field
For most of my adult life, I have been working in the mental health field. I started out working with inner city youth in Akron, Ohio. As I immersed myself in the systems around my clients; school systems, their peer groups, families, communities, and justice systems, I realized that understanding the systems around my clients gave my work a more profound impact. This focus on systems theory led me to study Marriage and Family Therapy.
Marriage and Family Therapist
My Master’s Level experience from University of Akron offered a unique “dual licensure” track which gave me the full training in traditional individual models of therapy as well as all of the family systems and couple therapy models that would be essential to understand as a Marriage and Family Therapist (MFT). With this background, I see every concern, every emotional struggle, every hope, and every longing as they relate to relationships and dynamic systems.
Personal connection to the work I do
I’ve been introduced to hundreds of therapy models- but I will NEVER forget the instant and immidiate impact of being introduced to Internal Family Systems (IFS) or Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT). Typically you get introduced to a model and think “I think this will help my clients.” This was completely different- the thought was “This is going to help me.” As further explore IFS and EFT as a person and as a therapist, the excitement and depth of that first introduction keeps expanding and my work feels more and more like an adventure.
Evidence-based training
Since falling in love with IFS and EFT, I have completed all of the IFS Level 1 modules through the Internal Family Systems Institute and I’ve completed the externship, all four core skills modules, as well as additional training on how to use EFT with sexual dynamics. These models support the idea that lasting change happens most quickly and most profoundly through corrective emotional experiences. These corrective experiences with self and with others activate neuroplasticity in the brain, solidify security in self, restructure relationships to function around vulnerability rather than self-preservation, and ultimately help us reauthor the narratives of our lives. The thing that most impresses me with IFS and EFT is how well these models create organic and lasting change. I am currently finding that IFS and EFT flow together beautifully and this combined approach is the backbone of my work.
Complexities with Faith
I work with lots of folks who are either in a ministry role or who have complex histories with evangelical culture. I myself grew up in a family in which the ministry culture defined everything. For some, their faith is their primary source of strength. For many, their journey in Christianity has created isolation, loneliness, resentment, and has ultimately caused trauma. It can be very confusing when your faith in God is both a source of strength and a trigger for helplessness and fear. Being in the ministry often causes those within to feel unable to speak up about their suffering leaving them powerless and isolated. I enjoy working with those who are processing the complexities of their faith, needing to re-process injuries due to purity culture, patriarchy, or the shaming culture that wounded them, and I love bringing spiritual elements into therapy when it feels welcome.
My style and personality
In a previous life, I was a “musician.” I put quotations around the word because I think you need to receive some sort of payment to be considered an actual musician. Aside from free booze. Either way, when I met my wife, it became clear that although the musician part of me was a fly by the seat of your pants romantic, it also had tendencies to lean into irresponsibility and distraction. It took me a while to introduce my musician part back into my life and into my identity as a therapist. IFS and EFT have been wonderful models that offer a safe structure for me to really play with. A lot of the work I do is introducing people to “play.” The musician in me loves reminding me now that playfulness and improvisation are ingredients for connection and healing. Both for the client and for the therapist. I am hopeful that our time together will be structured and guided but also full of improvisation and creativity.
FAQs
What advice would you have for couples in general from your experience?
Never stop exploring!
How long will this take?
It’s normal for me to work with people 15-20 sessions but that’s just to give you an idea. The important variables here are complexity of the problem, complexity of the goals of therapy, and how invested clients are in the change process. Although I can’t give you a specific number, I can say that I like therapy to feel a bit like a game: “How quickly can we hit our goals, enjoy our life, and fire this guy?”
Are we going to make it? Should we stay together?
This question is especially hard because I don’t believe it’s up to me to answer. I leave this one up to my couples. I don’t make any assumptions about whether or not anyone should get divorced or stay together. My commitment to you is to work as hard as I can on the treatment goals you have, to provide a safe space to process all decisions, and regardless of the decision, to guide a path of healing.
I do make assumptions about safety and couples work. If I sense some kind of safety issue, we would highlight the issue that seems to be plaguing the relationship, discuss ways in which to become safe, and stop couples work if the safety plan isn’t useful.
What got you into the work you do now?
Often times, the work we choose in life is a reflection of what’s important to us. This is certainly true for me. I thought psychology was interesting but really became a focus of mine when I began working with inner city youth towards the end of my undergraduate experience. The longer I worked with that population, the more I was thrown into working with parents of clients, couples, entire families, and communities. The systemic work just drew me in and seemed to make more of an impact than anything I was doing on an individual basis. In my graduate program, there was an on-site educational clinic which gave us unbelievable exposure to all kinds of clientele. I always liked working with couples but didn’t have as much formal training and experience. The exposure through the clinic at the University of Akron helped me laser focus in on couples. Working with couples immediately ignited me. The energy and vulnerability it takes for clients and clinicians to do couples work is so different than that of individual work. Being in that environment with those who are opening themselves up like that is such an honor. It really feels like sacred ground. And the more I do it, the more exciting it is.
Nature-Based Therapy has been an unfolding process. In 2020, I experienced what many folks experienced in that I shifted into a life indoors through quarantine. As the acute panic shifted to a sense of chronic loss, I felt extremely isolated, lonely, and helpless. The typical means of going out into the world that I took for granted started feeling less and less a part of my natural life. Luckily I lived right next to the entrance of some wild and unmarked woods (which Columbus Metro Parks eventually claimed as the “100 Acre Wood”). I began going out there regardless of weather, and paying attention to nature, and surprise surprise, I felt something healing happening. I owe a lot to nature. I owe a lot to my dog Sunny who pushed me further into nature. We got her as a pup and realized she loves running. Great! Right? I started biking every morning with her rain or shine. She loved it. I loved it. Then it started getting really cold for the Ohio winter. Sunny is a Berniedoodle with a big emphasis on the “Bernie” (Bernese Mountain Dog)… In other words, the colder it got the happier she was to be out running with me. What was I gonna do? I decided to jump fully in. I got a bike that is made for handling blizzard and winter riding and stocked up on electric heated socks and we were off to the races. That whole experience taught me more about distress tolerance than just about anything. I owe a lot to biking. What started as a way to take my dog on runs in the morning has become a re-ignited re-wilding experience that leads me to explore new mountain bike trails, go camping, have more firelit vulnerable exchanges with my friends… Nature-Based Therapy (especially where I live) isn’t even really a thing. But I feel like I am ready to have a more reciprocal relationship with Nature. It’s given me so much. Being a Nature-Based Therapist lets me have a tangible way to give back to Nature. To let nature heal others but to let others feel the healing power of nature so they will be more grateful and connected. I can’t wait to explore together how you can tap into the healing of nature, and to see how you might find so much joy and purpose in connecting to and supporting nature.
What are the specifics of your professional credentials, training, and affiliations?
Education:
Master of Education in Marriage and Family Therapy from the University of Akron, Graduation 2017
Licenses:
Ohio Independent Marriage and Family Therapist License F.2200257-SUPV with Supervisory designation, Indiana Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist License 35002202A.
Professional Trainings:
Internal Family Systems:
Internal Family Systems to Treat Sexual Addiction (Trainer Jenna Riemersma) 2018
Internal Family Systems Immersion: Integrating IFS Across Clinical Applications (through PESI) 10/2020
Level 1 (as a participant) completion through the Internal Family Systems Institute 09/2023
Level 1 (as a Program Assistant through Internal Family Systems Institute) 11/2025
Level 2 (as a participating) Intimacy From the Inside Out through the Internal Family Systems Institute (Starts March 2027)
Emotionally Focused Therapy:
Externship through International Centere for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy 12/2018
All Core-Skills Trainings (1-4) through International Centre for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy 10/2019
Sex as a Safe Adventure (Using the Emotionally Focused Therapy model to improve sexual intimacy) through New York City Emotionally Focused Therapy 10/2020
Psychedelic Assisted Therapy:
Psychedelics In Therapy: MDMA, Psilocybin, Ketamine, and Micro-Dosing (through PESI) 01/2022
Ketamine Assisted Therapy Didactic and Experiential Training (through Journey Clinical) 10/2026
Nature-Based Therapy
Clinical Tools and Best Practices for Bringing Nature into Treatment for Trauma, Anxiety and More, (trainer Dr. Heidi Schreiber-Pan who is the Founder and Executive Director of the Center for Nature Informed Therapy) 11/2026
Memberships and Affiliations:
American Association of Marriage and Family Therapists Member since 2016
International Center for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy Member since 2018
Internal Family Systems Institute member since 2024
