About Me
I created Wild Roots from a culmination of my personal and professional experiences, striving to provide the type of support I know to be valuable within a framework of compassion, honesty and equity. Through years of working with different therapists and my own education I discovered the tremendous impacts of years of childhood bullying and the ultimate manifestation of these and other experiences into a person who struggled with depression. I stumbled into somatic therapy through a few very uncomfortable therapy sessions that left me feeling exposed and seen in a way I never had been. It was weird, uncomfortable, and foreign to me and yet I knew I wanted more. I couldn't explain it, but something started to shift.
My years as a client of Somatic Experiencing® combined with my training as a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP) has transformed my understanding of, and approach to, clinical symptoms. It allowed me to slowly replace shame with self-compassion and to understand that my symptoms of depression were a natural response, a protective way my body learned to respond to internal overwhelm and feeling unsafe. It is from this place of self-compassion and knowledge that I approach clinical symptoms; understanding that we can't always choose how we respond to adverse life events and we do the best we can, with our body leading the way and doing all it can to keep us safe. By tending to the body, gently bringing attention and intention to what it is telling us, we can shift the cognitive story, and things start to change. These shifts in my own life have allowed me to hold the capacity and space for others to shift, even when it might feel hopeless. Healing happens in relationships, and I believe the therapeutic relationship can be a great starting point and catalyst for further healing in all our relationships.
My personal work with ketamine and psilocybin have further deepened my own therapeutic work, solidifying my understanding of how the therapeutic process can go so far beyond the words and deeply into the body. I have found the combination of these medicines with somatic work to be deeply transformative, as I've experienced noticeable shifts over time in my capacity to hold and navigate the healing that can happen in a safe container with adequate support and preparation. I believe a solid therapeutic relationship should be the foundation on which this medicine work is explored, as I've experienced both what can happen when this is in place, and conversely what can result when it is not. My personal experiences with therapy and psychedelic work, both profoundly expansive and significantly damaging, inform the work I do with clients and how I approach it.
My experience in this field includes individual, group and family therapy with adolescents, young adults, and families. The settings in which I've practiced include community mental health, assertive community treatment, wilderness therapy, mental health first responder, crisis response, and private practice. I work well with folks experiencing depression, anxiety, PTSD and those who have a history of complex and developmental trauma. I enjoy working with people new to therapy, therapists seeking their own therapeutic support, and people with an extensive history of experience with therapy who are looking for something different. I believe strongly in including the physiology in our work together, as that is so often where our symptoms are rooted. My approach is gentle and compassionate, and I do not hesitate to nudge and challenge as appropriate for our work together. I ask questions that will challenge you and align with your therapeutic goals.
In my time outside of the therapy room I enjoy a range of seasonal and year-round outdoor activities afforded by the wilderness in Colorado, with a preference for hiking, running, and a newfound joy in split boarding. I make an effort to spend as much time outside as possible in all seasons and enjoy solitude in the wilderness. I enjoy spending days on the river and ski slopes with my partner. I love cooking and baking, with an affinity for homemade pizza and cinnamon rolls. I am a lifelong learner with endless curiosity about myself and those around me and have a deep reverence for my personal and professional work.