What is your training and what credentials do you currently hold?

I am a registered art therapist (ATR) with a Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling: Art Therapy. My training included a 700-hour community placement internship, followed by 3,000 hours of post-master’s supervised professional counseling experience completed under a Professional Counselor Training License (LPC-IT) in the state of Wisconsin. I have taught undergraduate and graduate courses in art therapy theory, group dynamics, and multicultural counseling, and served as both faculty and administrative director of an online art therapy program for three years.

My approach is grounded in trauma-informed, socially conscious, and person-centered care, integrating the expressive and relational power of the arts. Additionally, I am a trained full-spectrum birth doula with extensive experience supporting people through grief, transition, and transformation.

Are you licensed to provide counseling in the state of Minnesota?

No, I am not licensed to provide clinical mental health counseling in Minnesota. I’ve shifted to a community-based art-as-therapy model that offers creative, relational, and liberatory spaces for exploration, healing, and connection outside of the traditional clinical framework.

I chose this path because I believe healing doesn’t always need to happen within hierarchical or medicalized systems, especially those that have historically pathologized transgender, queer, and fat bodies. Stepping outside the clinical framework allows me to align more fully with the values that guide my work: trust in people’s inherent wisdom, respect for self-determined healing, and the power of community care. Similarly to my role as a birth doula, my work now is not to diagnose or direct, but to accompany, hold space, offer support, and bear witness as people move through their own processes in their own time.

What kinds of settings have you worked in?

I began my career in the nonprofit sector, supporting individuals experiencing homelessness, domestic violence, and sexual abuse and assault. In this realm, I also engaged in coalition building efforts focused on anti-racism, LGBTQ+ youth and safe school initiatives, and transgender health. I am proud to have co-founded the first counseling center in Wisconsin created by and for transgender people.

My work has primarily focused on LGBTQ+ communities with intersecting identities, including BIPOC, disabled, fat, and neurodivergent individuals under the queer and trans umbrella. Grounded in both lived experience and a deep commitment to social justice, I strive to create safer, more affirming spaces where people of all identities can truly thrive.

For the past decade, I have dedicated significant time to higher education, working within Multicultural Student Affairs and Social Justice Education. In these roles, I’ve provided consultation and group facilitation around identity development, conflict resolution, strategic planning, and capacity building. Additionally, I have organized seminars and conferences for providers and educators focused on diversity, equity, inclusion, and violence prevention education.

Who do you work with?

My deepest experience is with LGBTQ+ folks, fat-bodied people, and neurodivergent individuals, especially those carrying rich, intersecting identities. My work centers on creating affirming and liberatory spaces where people can explore identity, process grief and transition, and cultivate healing and resilience through creative expression.

I also collaborate with aspiring allies, groups, and organizations seeking to build more inclusive, trauma-informed, and socially just environments. Whether working one-on-one, in groups, or with communities, I hold deep respect for each person’s unique experience and wisdom, and I’m committed to supporting healing and growth on your own terms.

What sets you apart from other people I might work with?

My approach is warm and gentle, yet direct and truthful. I bring a Mary Poppins–sized bag of tools and methodologies that help make each session creative, dynamic, and deeply resonant.

I integrate a wide range of creative practices (making art, exploring symbols and imagery, journaling, dreamwork, and more) to help access deeper parts of your experience and unlock new perspectives. My training in transpersonal approaches allows me to weave spirituality into our work through ritual, meditation, mindfulness, and intuitive practices like tarot, astrology, and ancestral exploration.

This spiritual dimension is balanced by my grounded commitment to social and political justice, including years of deep engagement in systemic work aimed at uprooting oppression, fostering liberation, and embracing the role of a perpetual student.

This rare blend of creative exploration, mystical insight, and practical activism allows me to hold expansive, courageous, and deeply compassionate space for healing. I support you as a whole, complex human being, honoring both your inner world and your place within larger systems, so together we can cultivate transformation that is personal, profound, and enduring.