My journey as a therapist started with a personal need for knowledge of mental health practices.

When my son turned five, he was diagnosed with anxiety. At the time my career was in IT. I had no understanding of the mental health field and I knew very few people who openly talked about their experiences with anxiety or therapy.

As we began working with counselors and social workers to find real help and support for our son and our family, I realized I wanted to know more. That’s when I decided to go back to school and completely shift into a new career within the mental health space.

Along the way, the different areas that I’ve focused on learning more about have enlightened my own healing processes and launched a desire of wanting to help others who are hurting understand that things can look different. Helping parents learn how to communicate with their children who have been diagnosed with anxiety disorders is so important to me because I’ve walked in their shoes. I’ve been the parent who feels helpless and unable to help their child find comfort and be happy.

I’ve learned that the health and the depth of our relationships - with our kids, our partners, and our friends - is often the gauge of how fulfilled we feel overall in our lives. Most of the couples that come in for support identify communication as their main struggle. Similarly, communicating with a child who has severe anxiety is like learning a new language, and can shift your parenting style in the same way that new communication tools can shift your other relationships.