About Me

Phase 1 of my professional journey: I have a bachelors degree in social work and started out working in the mental health field in 2006, right after graduation from a private liberal arts college at an inpatient psychiatric unit in North Dakota. Here, I learned the ins and outs of cultivating relationships with clients, and the coordination and care that it takes to work in the mental health field. I started running psychoeducation groups, doing discharge planning, and general case management for adults 18+ who were hospitalized for a variety of reasons. I am so glad I started my journey here where I was able to see the importance of a professional team and truly understanding the importance of therapy, psychiatric care, and relationship building. 

Phase 2 of my professional journey: I moved to the Minneapolis St. Paul area in 2007 where I started working at an intensive outpatient and partial hospitalization program AND started graduate school! I graduated in 2010 with my Masters in Social Work from the University of Minnesota School of Social Work. Afterward, that I started my clinical journey and was trained in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Narrative Therapy, Psychodynamic Therapy, and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy. I also started working in more supervisory roles supervising a staff in an intensive outpatient program and clinically supervising licensed social workers. After years of supervised practice myself, I obtained my independent clinical licensure (LICSW) to provide therapy and gained enough experience to become a clinical supervisor for the board of behavioral health and therapy and the board of social work. 

Phase 3 of my professional journey: Insert higher education and a budding interest in sport! We made a move to rural Minnesota where I started work in higher education counseling. I have been doing this since 2013 and continue to this day! I absolutely love working with college students. It is during this phase that I obtained my 200 hour yoga certification, mindfulness certification and training, and started a budding interest in working with athletes who came to the counseling center. 

Phase 4 of my professional journey: Here we are! Once I started to see the need in collegiate sport around mental health, I started partnerships with our athletics department which led to more interest and more demand! I started the professional journey of obtaining by CMPC, or certified mental performance consultant through the Association of Applied Sport Psychology. I had to go back and take some graduate classes in sport psychology and sport science and do a mentorship- all of which were incredibly useful in taking this next step! I started offering mental skills training and consultation in addition to my therapy practice and continued to run groups and workshops. I realized that my 13 years in collegiate counseling working with a variety of sports matched well with my training history, and own connection to sport in my family. I also sought out more mindfulness training and ACT, acceptance and commitment therapy.