I have a Master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Before becoming a therapist, I worked in health education with a specialty in sexual and reproductive health. I haven’t always known what I wanted to be when I grew up, but in every step of my journey I’ve made a point to advocate for my communities. I’ve served on a number of boards and committees to promote Queer, Trans, and Intersex (QTI) inclusion in education and healthcare.

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The mental health field doesn’t have a great track record when it comes to working with Queer, Trans, and Intersex people. There is a long history of pathologizing our bodies, identities, relationships, and sexual practices. Only recently has the field even begun to understand us on our own terms.

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Research has begun to show that Queer, Trans, and Intersex people are more likely to have adverse experiences, including experiencing abuse, discrimination, relationship cutoff, isolation, resource scarcity, and criminalization. The mental health field is slowly learning to shift from framing QTI identities as the problem, to better understanding our full lives, experiences, and contexts where problems can arise. Much of that work is being championed by QTI people working in the field.

 

I work collaboratively with all of my clients, knowing that each person participating in therapy has wisdom and expertise about the problem and the solution. My role in therapy is to help you look at the situation from new angles, to suggest new things you might try, to help you find new meaning in old stories, and to help you tap into your inner guide. I won’t take sides between multiple people in therapy, but I will help you think about your roles in the relationship, the patterns, power dynamics, and ways to better meet everyone’s needs.