I earned my license to practice therapy as a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor (LCMHC), at the Associate level in July of 2017, issued by the North Carolina Board of Licensed Professional Counselors.
I earned my full license as a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor (LCMHC) on July 1, 2021, license #13307.
I graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor's degree in Psychology and a Minor in Business from State University of New York (SUNY) at Albany. As an undergraduate I worked as an aid for two years on the mental health units of a hospital and also joined the University at Albany’s Middle Earth Peer Assistance Hotline Program where I was trained as a counselor in issues of suicide, rape, substance abuse, and sexuality. As a result of my academic achievements, I was granted membership in Psi Chi, the International Honor Society in Psychology.
I continued at SUNY at Albany to complete a master’s degree in Vocational Rehabilitation Counseling. My master’s degree practicum placement was as Counselor in a 14-bed adolescent chemical dependency residential program. My internship was as Counselor in a 54-bed adult male chemical dependency residential program.
After graduating, I worked for nearly seven years with individuals with blindness and visual impairments as a vocational rehabilitation counselor, and another five years as a trainer for legally blind small business entrepreneurs.
During this same period, I ran a social anxiety peer support group for seven years. We met weekly and sometimes bi-weekly to discuss ways to overcome social anxiety and depression.
While I enjoyed working in vocational rehabilitation, I decided that I truly wanted to work full time as a mental health counselor. I began working towards becoming a Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor (LCMHC), which I started in July of 2017.
Since earning my license, I have worked for three mental health agencies providing therapy to adults, children, and adolescents on a wide range of mental health issues including depression, anxiety, social anxiety, Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), Autism, ADHD, adjustment disorders, sexual abuse and trauma to name a few. I switched to my own full time private practice in 2021.
In November 2017, I attended a workshop with Dr. David Burns and became a Certified TEAM-CBT Therapist with the Feeling Good Institute. Dr. Burns is one of the pioneers in CBT and trained directly under Dr. Arron Beck.
I am also a certified Autism Spectrum Disorder Clinical Specialist (ASDCS) and have always enjoyed working with those on the spectrum, to help maximize their strengths, and smooth out any challenging areas.