Meet Your Guide

While I received training in a wide variety of approaches, my major preference is EMDR because it has shown the most effectiveness. I also lean towards Solution Focused and Narrative Therapies. I believe that people have an innate ability to find their "Happy", but sometimes they need a helping hand to point them in the right direction. My job is to identify the strengths that can help them overcome their issues and achieve their full potential. 

I've been providing therapy to adults, adolescents, couples. and families for over 15 years. 

During my initial training, I worked as a graduate assistant counselor at the University of Mississippi for 5 years. I worked specifically with international student groups and individuals providing them with assistance in adjustment and acculturation. As part of that, I would organize regular sporting events, camping trips and vacation retreats. 

After graduating with my Ph.D., I worked as a Campus Counselor at the University of Hawaii at Hilo with wide variety of students and organized clubs and activities to help them adjust to campus and life in Hawaii. 

Currently I have a private practice at home where I do a portion of telehealth and another portion in Nature. I also contract with Root2Rise Counseling Center part time. 

Across all of these experiences, I have worked with clients from different demographics (adolescents, adults, elderly, couples and families) with a wide spectrum of issues. You are in great hands!

EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) is a psychotherapy that enables people to heal from the symptoms and emotional distress that are the result of disturbing life experiences.  Repeated studies show that by using EMDR therapy people can experience the benefits of psychotherapy that once took years to make a difference.

It is widely assumed that severe emotional pain requires a long time to heal.  EMDR therapy shows that the mind can in fact heal from psychological trauma much as the body recovers from physical trauma.  When you cut your hand, your body works to close the wound.  If a foreign object or repeated injury irritates the wound, it festers and causes pain.  Once the block is removed, healing resumes.  EMDR therapy demonstrates that a similar sequence of events occurs with mental processes.  The brain’s information processing system naturally moves toward mental health.  If the system is blocked or imbalanced by the impact of a disturbing event, the emotional wound festers and can cause intense suffering.  Once the block is removed, healing resumes.  Using the detailed protocols and procedures learned in EMDR therapy training sessions, clinicians help clients activate their natural healing processes. Learn More...

EMDR therapy is an eight-phase treatment.  Eye movements (or other bilateral stimulation) are used during one part of the session.  After the clinician has determined which memory to target first, he asks the client to hold different aspects of that event or thought in mind and to use his eyes to track the therapist’s hand as it moves back and forth across the client’s field of vision.  As this happens, for reasons believed by a Harvard researcher to be connected with the biological mechanisms involved in Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep, internal associations arise and the clients begin to process the memory and disturbing feelings. In successful EMDR therapy, the meaning of painful events is transformed on an emotional level.  For instance, a rape victim shifts from feeling horror and self-disgust to holding the firm belief that, “I survived it and I am strong.”  Unlike talk therapy, the insights clients gain in EMDR therapy result not so much from clinician interpretation, but from the client’s own accelerated intellectual and emotional processes.  The net effect is that clients conclude EMDR therapy feeling empowered by the very experiences that once debased them.  Their wounds have not just closed, they have transformed. As a natural outcome of the EMDR therapeutic process, the clients’ thoughts, feelings and behavior are all robust indicators of emotional health and resolution—all without speaking in detail or doing homework used in other therapies. (EMDR.com) Watch an example of an EMDR Therapy Session.

Research shows that people who are more connected with nature are usually happier in life and more likely to report feeling their lives are worthwhile. Nature can generate many positive emotions, such as calmness, joy, and creativity and can facilitate concentration. Nature connectedness is also associated with lower levels of poor mental health, particularly lower depression and anxiety (MentalHealth.org.uk). We've compiled some helpful links and resources for you on this topic. Learn More...

I've been offering private therapeutic hikes of various intensities in Hawaii for the last 5 years. I love hiking and camping, especially by the ocean, so it means so much to share that with others to support their wellness. I have also received medical training to lead hikes in remote areas and am a certified Wildnerness First Responder (WFR). 

I've led therapeutic hikes all over Hawaii, especially on the Big Island, where I live. Your hiking and/or camping retreat will be designed to meet your mental health needs, goals, time frame, ability, and fitness level. It can be a hard-core backpacking trip or an easy camping retreat.  It can be a well-established route or a trail off the beaten path. I will provide the orientation to the trails and the packing/equipment support. If needed, I will provide pre-hiking counseling where you can address any issues preventing such a journey. We've compiled a list of popular hiking options that have been meaningful and enjoyable to our clients. You can access that here.