My life has been dedicated to serving in the child welfare system of the St. Louis, MO metropolitan area since 1994. Previous settings include residential treatment, outpatient mental health services, and foster care & adoption agencies. This has afforded extensive experience working with children and adolescents whose circumstances have caused deep harm to their mental and emotional well-being. My mission…to decrease the impact those circumstances would have on them in adulthood, to increase their chances of a healthy adulthood. It’s a mission I’ve executed with heart. Later in my career, I began working with adults who were seeking support and improvement in significant areas of their lives (e.g., relationships, parenting, etc.), and in some cases, in their overall satisfaction with their existence in the world. Most oftentimes, the root of their challenges stemmed from harmful circumstances or experiences that occurred in childhood. It affirmed the importance of this mission to support youth in their healing as well as highlighted the need to support adults in the same manner. It also shifted my professional approach to more holistic forms of treatment that consider the totality of the individual. I use concepts from various traditional counseling theories as the foundation of my work, so I subscribe to an eclectic theoretical approach to treatment and support. I consider the personal history, personality, values, and therapeutic needs of my client. This individualized approach is necessary to establishing a trusting connection and for creating a safe environment for such important work. I commend you taking this step and look forward to joining you on your healing journey!