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I am primarily an Acceptance Commitment Therapist (ACT). I have come to believe that having a specialized orientation with flexibility to cultural and historical considerations, as well as drawing from other therapy modalities, makes for the most consistent practice. To that end, I am currently studying Radically Open Dialectical Behavior Therapy and Emotionally-focused Therapy to incorporate into my practice. I also incorporate Existential Philosophy and Psychology which combines quite nicely with ACT. I am also trained in standard therapies like Exposure Response Prevention, Solution-focused Therapy, and Motivational Interviewing, all of which are useful when working with children, teens, and emerging adults. Lastly, I love incorporating my background of music into therapy, so we may swap songs and artists. I have two specialties. My first is child and adolescent therapy for which I was initially trained. Many of the techniques I used are modified or adapted to be appropriate for this age. For children younger than 11 or 12, I primarily work with the parents as evidence suggests this is the best route for improvement. Parents and family are at the root of a child's growth. For teens, it is a mixture of individual therapy and family support, but taken on a case-by-case basis. My second specialty is with emerging adults and young professionals. As I was working in a variety of settings with children, teens, and families, I began running into colleagues and professionals (physicians, educators, entrepreneurs, engineers) who were burnt out, stressed about job or life choices, and facing existential troubles. These issues are tied to our mainstream work and societal cultural and systemic norms and I have been working with various organizations and providing therapy for emerging adults to address these issues.
NEW: I have decided to reopen my assessment practice. This is for school-age children through early adulthood (21 yrs old), and is specifically for ADHD rule-in/rule-out assessment. If you suspect ADHD and/or something else is a factor in your life experience or for your child, I have limited assessment slots availability. Please contact for more information.
It seems many of us are all working through similar questions about life. We wonder just who we are. We worry about making the "right" choices. We want to be good parents, or be a good friend to others, or even find our own friends, or find the right job, or just make it through school. We feel moments of dread or hopelessness alongside moments of hope and optimism. We have moments of doubt and pain and joy and excitement. And at some point we need help working through this. I, too, had and continue to have these questions. Answering them is the reason I pursued my education as a psychologist. I attended the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities and received my doctorate. Afterward, I completed my postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Nebraska-Medical Center as a pediatric psychologist working to help children, teens, parents, and even physicians work through difficult times and build hope for a good future. I have worked in schools, community mental health settings, and hospitals. Through all of this work I have learned that these questions and difficulties are all part of our unique experience of life. I also currently hold positions at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and the Mid-America Mental Health Technology Transfer Center.
While I do not directly accept Regence Blue Shield, Premera, or Aetna, I have established relationships with them and have a fairly streamlined direct billing process with them that I offer on your behalf.