No matter the issue, when we are the ones experiencing the hurt, we want it to stop. But sometimes our efforts to stop the pain only drive the infection deeper. It takes courage to stop doing what we have been doing to ignore or ease the pain. It takes courage to reach out for help. But there is great freedom and joy on the other side. One of my heroes, Larry Crabb said it best, "Face the hard questions that life requires you to ask. Gather with other travelers on the narrow road, pilgrims who acknowledge their confusion and feel their fears. Then, untangle those questions together in His Presence.”
Past trauma can significantly affect the here and now. Using current advances in trauma research and neuroscience, my desire is to help you see your pain, your hurt, your loss, and your story as something God desires to redeem and heal. I am trained as an EMDR therapist and can help you develop new pathways out of your painful trauma stories. Our hurt leaves us feeling alone, disconnected, desperate. But we have a God who takes the ashes and turns them into beauty. I desire to help you see how God wants to bind up your broken heart and set you free. You can schedule an appointment now via my easy-to-use online scheduling system or call me at 936-931-8051.
As a trauma-informed Licensed Professional Counselor, I specialize in walking with people from a place of brokenness and hurt to a place of wholeness, healing, and hope. And as you know, brokenness comes in all shapes and forms. The medical model helps us see what is wrong. But my counseling method is a grace-based, gentle, inquisitive search for what has been lost, what needs have not been met, and then a bold look at how we have developed disruptive and disconnected relational patterns in response to our past hurts. I am a member of the Texas Counseling Association (TCA), American Counseling Association (ACA), and American Association of Christian Counselors (AACC). I have experience in working with:
depression and anxiety
shame
childhood sexual abuse
parenting challenges
spiritual wounds
co-dependency
abuse recovery of all kinds
biblical self-worth
PTSD
grief
crippling fear
life transitions
(At this time, I am not accepting any new clients under the age of 18 for individual counseling.)
My work with women
As a fellow female-struggler, I know first-hand how women are plagued with fear, comparison, guilt, shame, body-image struggles, and pressure to be everything to everyone, all the time. I am passionate about my desire to help women be free to see themselves as God sees them and recover their Biblical self-worth and dignity. Abuse, sexual exploitation, and a culture of air-brushed and photoshopped images have left us all shell-shocked and ashamed. My desire is to walk with women through these minefields of shame.
Do I work with women only?
No! I work individually with men AND women. Women aren't the only ones who compare themselves to others. Men often feel the pressure to be the strong man, the never-faltering man, the decisive man, the provider man: and men are often left feeling alone and not enough. And I know sometimes seeing a female therapist can be a part of the healing process.
Couples Counseling
What if we viewed marriage counseling the same as we view changing the oil in our cars? Or rotating our tires every 10,000 miles? Healthy marriages take investment. They take maintenance work. Couple therapy does not have to ONLY be for that last desperate moment right before divorce. Healthy marriages require tune-ups, investment, and attention.
Of course, couples’ counseling clearly involves some of those more "messy" moments: when communication has come to a screeching halt; where defensiveness and criticism are the name of the game; when understanding and compassion are long gone; when past trauma is significantly affecting the here and now. Trauma damages trust systems, self worth, and brings on the heavy blanket of hopelessness and despair. Using current advances in trauma research and neuroscience, I walk with couples to untangle the hurts that have been piling up for years, teach new and healthier ways of connecting, and work to embrace the grief over what has been lost. Don’t wait any longer. Let me walk with you to a place of healing. Counseling is available for weekly, 50 minute sessions, 3 Hour Therapy Intensives, or in an 8 hour concentrated format called Weekend Therapy Intensives.
