This time it will be different! You have help because you have reached out and scheduled your first appointment.

You don’t have to try and figure things out on your own. A warm and compassionate person sits before you to help bring awareness to what is not working and what you can do about it.

Maybe you have gotten caught in a negative thought spiral that makes you feel worthless every time it is played like a broken record over and over. Perhaps a loved one is stomping on your dreams and devaluing what is essential to you. Maybe there has been a pattern of self-destructive behavior that feels out of control.

Whatever is present, we will greet it together and travel down the road of healing and lasting change.

Therapy is about finding yourself... unapologetic, unbound by what others think, and unencumbered by past traumas. You see the jewel, your authentic voice, and your unique expression of self.

You gain insight into – what makes your heart sing. How do you want to live this precious life you have received?

Imagine the moment when you stand up and say, “Enough! I want to live to my full potential!” Now, imagine when you start taking steps in that direction!

Therapy can help you end cycles of what is not working and take steps toward what you want and who you are.

Life is pretty good, except you keep falling flat in one area. If you could get this one area of life to move, it would make hopes and dreams blossom.

You know this part of your life needs to change. Every time it comes up, it’s uncomfortable, draining, and disheartening. It can drag your day down, making you question your worth, abilities, and relationships.

How you feel is a confidence buster, and maybe you are avoiding part of your life because this thing seems not to want to change. You know that you can do better than this if you can move this thing in the way of your growth.

You are not alone! And you were never really meant to be alone with this.

Sometimes, we need help to move our heaviest burdens. It is okay to ask for support!

You are capable of more than you think, and sometimes it takes another person recognizing this and holding you in the light of what you are capable of for you to see it. I will keep you in this light and work with you to move the obstacle that stands in the way of your heart song.

Together, we will build the life that makes your heart sing.

Many coaching sessions are about setting and sticking to goals. They can feel harsh and shameful when not met. We will focus on being in the spirit of play in these sessions.

What might your life be like if it were different? We will work on building motivation and confidence to do something different. In our sessions, we might role-play or set out chairs for parts of ourselves to have a conversation.

We may draw, dance, experience something in our imagination, use our awareness to see patterns or look at your values and relationship with them. The possibilities are endless. We will create experiences that allow you to see yourself being, doing, and having what you desire.

What if you did not have to go anywhere when you arrived home? Imagine the possibilities with time not spent in traffic! Here is how the story could have gone!

You arrive home from work. The traffic was terrible, but you put on your favorite songs and sang on the way home. There is no reason to stress; you don’t have a time commitment immediately.

As you walk in the door, stretching after that long drive, Fluffy, the dog, greets you. “Aww, sweet Fluffy!” You warmly embrace him as he welcomes you, change out of your work clothes and into your comfy clothes. You have plenty of time to relax before your session.

The world has changed because of the pandemic. During COVID, everything moved online: jobs, services, social life, dating, and therapy/coaching were no exception! I remember thinking to myself at the time, “Wow, this is going to impact the field,” and it did for the better!

Therapy is now more widely available than ever. Smaller communities have access to services they did not before. Families face less burden with travel and child care because of an appointment.

People with mobility issues or fear of leaving home can access care less stressfully. Immuno-compromised people can meet safely in groups. Appointments are easy to keep even if you are somewhere other than home, and you can schedule them on less-prime hours with a lunch break from work.

You can be where you want for your session.

Online therapy meets you where you are, when you are available, every time. I work with therapy clients all over Colorado, ranging from mountain regions (Vail, Steam Boat, Gunnison) to cities on the western slope (Grand Junction, Delta, Montrose) to southern Colorado (Manitou, Colorado Springs, Woodland Park, Monument, Castle Rock, Durango), to eastern plains (Bennet, Limon, Fort Morgan) to the North (Boulder, Longmont, Fort Collins), and the Metro area (Denver, Golden, Arvada, Aurora, Lakewood, Highlands Ranch, Parker, and Westminster). Wherever you are in Colorado, I am here for you.

As a coach, I can work with anyone, anywhere! I have worked with some coaching clients in Colorado and some out-of-state in an online format.

I am also available to coach people outside of the US.

We discussed her deepest fears, the ones her brain would spiral around and around, filling her with dread. We greeted each fear, and Sarah learned to question the fear’s intent.

Some fears were irrational, like “My family doesn’t love me anymore.” Sarah knew this was not true because she and her husband had a deep, loving connection and a great relationship with their two children.

As we questioned her fears, Sarah realized that they came from her family when she was growing up. Her parents consistently gave her feedback that she was not good enough. Sarah was still trying to live up to their impossible expectations.

Other fears were rational, like constantly hitting a zero balance before each paycheck. For these kinds of fears, we discussed strategies to reduce the constant worries. Ultimately, Sarah decided it was time to work with a financial planner.

We discussed fear of the unknown and being okay when the future is unclear. Sarah learned that when her thoughts started swirling into negativity about the future, she could return to the present by finding her body and the room around her and telling herself that the future is unknowable and anything can happen. She worked to shift her thoughts from the worst outcomes to the best results.

Sarah realized in this process that she was always preparing for the worst because it was often that way while growing up. Her mom had anxiety and always focused on the worst possible outcome. She didn’t need to be attached to that anymore because it was not helpful and robbed her of joy.

Fear will steal your soul. It will rob you of life, liberty, and joy. It makes life an endless cycle of dread, with constant disasters lurking around every corner.

Take your life back! You can be like Sarah and overcome the anxiety that you feel by learning to control negative thoughts and live your life with joy.

Open your heart and mind to the possibility of abundant love and happiness. Make friends with fear and live a courageous life.

Let’s work together toward the dream of a beautiful future filled with hope and joy.

Reach out now!

Gloria and I worked together online to slowly start building some ways that she could gently nurture herself when she felt down and depressed.

She decided that instead of sitting on the couch and dwelling on the loss of her husband, she would connect with her daughter in New York. Gloria also had several friends who wanted to reach out to her.

Though it was hard to do this at first, she realized the love and connection she had with others who deeply cared about her. She began to feel her heart open, and some light come in.

Gloria and I processed the death of her husband. Losing her husband was challenging, but it did not mean her life was over. As she reconnected with friends and family and processed difficult emotions, she found herself again.

Gloria found a sense of self beyond being a mother and wife. She began exploring her hobbies and interests again, joined a community garden, and loved socializing with Edith, whose plot was next to hers. She joined an art class to build a different relationship with her emotions. This class allowed her to feel safe expressing her emotions through painting.

Taking a trip came next. Gloria and a friend took a trip to Cabo, where they soaked up some sun and learned to be in the spirit of exploration and play again.

Depression is not the end of all things. It can also be the beginning of a new self.

With help, you can transition out of this night of the soul. Just as the Phoenix rises from the ashes, you can too!

I can help. We will explore whatever feeds your depression, greet it kindly, allow all emotions to emerge, and find energy in life again!

You are on this page because something is holding you back. You have some trauma and wonder if EMDR could help.

I have witnessed EMDR change lives. Let’s work together toward your freedom, not being held hostage by whatever keeps holding you back, blocking your joy, and making life difficult.

EMDR is an excellent fit to work with big and little traumas. It is a good fit for working with anxiety, depression, grief, loss, and PTSD.

Whatever your trauma, we will hold it together – you are not alone. Your life should be free from trauma, and you can find joy.

Jennifer had been through some previous therapy following rape in college. Through talk therapy, she processed the trauma and the feelings around what happened to her and understood that it was not her fault.

In her previous therapy, she worked on breathing techniques to calm her nervous system and positive self-talk to reduce the negative thoughts around the incident. But she still felt anxious when in a large crowd of people. Her heart would pound, and she would begin to sweat profusely. She felt short of breath, her head would start to spin, and she felt like every fiber in her being just wanted to run!

Jennifer avoided the supermarket at peak hours. She also stopped going to the dance classes that she once enjoyed. She would not use public transportation even though a convenient light rail station in front of her apartment complex stopped a block away from work. Jennifer quit going on dates because men made her uncomfortable because of how her body reacted.

Jennifer could not understand why she could not talk herself out of this. She had been to therapy and processed the trauma. Logically, it made no sense! Jennifer wondered what was wrong with her.

We engage the brilliance of the body to allow healing naturally. Your nervous system is designed for resilience! Peter Levine, the founder of SE, theorized that the body has brilliant mechanisms for coping with trauma in a crisis. It responds to different stages of an overwhelming event with intelligence.

Imagine a gazelle on the Serengeti. He is happily munching some grass when he hears rustling in the tall grass behind him. He quickly orients to the noise, turning both ears and eyes in that direction. He sees nothing, but his nervous system is in “watch out” mode. Hypervigilance, jumpiness, and feelings of being unsettled are often characteristic of stage one of the crisis response.

He does not know that a lion is stalking him in the tall grass. Suddenly, the lion springs from the grass, claws extended. The gazelle takes off, running for his life at full speed. His brilliant body shuts down unnecessary tasks like digestive and mating functions, pulling blood from those areas and pushing it to his legs for the run. It is an all-out effort to flee the lion. This is a stage two crisis response, sometimes experienced as a panic attack, the feeling to run, fight or hide.

The lion catches up to the gazelle and tackles him, taking him by the throat. The gazelle’s body prepares for shutdown as he surrenders to the lion’s jaws. He tried to get away, but it didn’t work. The gazelle’s body begins to feel disconnected from the pain, pulling his consciousness away from the jaws of the lion. However, his body maintains tension because there is a slight chance he may still be able to get away.

The lion is tired from the run and may not have the energy to make the kill. Feeling floaty, yet keyed up, represents stage three of the crisis response, resulting in feeling simultaneously panicky and spacy.

The lion increases his pressure on the gazelle’s neck. It appears the lion does have the energy to make his kill. The gazelle’s body knows it is over, and time is short. The body completely releases and goes limp – representing stage four of the crisis response, resulting in total dissociation. There may be no feeling in the body. One may feel detached from the body, experiencing no pain. Time slows down, and one may have an out-of-body experience.

Jessie had been abused as a child by a family member for years. She had grown up in a chronically hostile environment and learned to walk on eggshells. Staying small and unseen was her strategy to avoid attacks. Early on, Jessie learned to appease her abuser so that the abuse was not so bad. She even convinced herself that the abuse was enjoyable at times.

Jessie left her childhood home as soon as possible. Despite the turbulence at home, she was a high-achieving high school student and was granted a merit scholarship to a four-year university. Jessie continued her high school success in college. She kept a 4.0 GPA and was in the top 10% of her class.

However, Jessie noticed some differences between herself and her peers. Unlike the others, Jessie never socialized or dated. Sure, Jessie had acquaintances and study partners but no real friends. It was hard to be close to anyone, especially men. Jessie attempted to overcome her awkwardness by going to a few parties, only to have a major panic attack when approached by males wanting to talk and dance.

Jessie graduated Summa Cum Laude from her program and found a job in her field immediately after college. Her future was looking bright. She got her first apartment living alone in a new city, and started working.

Have you ever wondered what a different life might be like if you never encountered that trauma? While you cannot erase the past, the pain and trauma of the past do not need to hold you, hostage.

It is time to rise from the ashes of your experience and start a new life. Discover and live a new life like Jessie!

Reconnect with loved ones, gain joy, and allow your life to make your heart sing. You are not alone. You are powerful, strong, and capable of healing. Let’s work together to collect your pieces and make you whole again.