Education & Professional Background
My path to becoming a therapist wasn't one I expected.
For much of my life, I never imagined myself pursuing higher education. It wasn't until a significant personal loss in my early adulthood that I began to reevaluate the direction of my life and the kind of impact I wanted to have on others. What started as an interest in helping military members, veterans, and first responders eventually became a much broader fascination with human behavior and the experiences that shape us.
While earning my Bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice from Metropolitan State University of Denver, I found myself constantly asking the same question: Why? Why do people make the choices they make? Why do some people respond differently to similar experiences? Why do certain patterns persist, even when they're causing harm?
That curiosity led me into research, work with at-risk youth, and eventually graduate school at the University of Colorado Denver, where I earned my Master's degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. Along the way, I discovered that my greatest interest wasn't simply understanding behavior—it was understanding people.
One of the most influential experiences in my career came during my clinical training when I chose to work with a population I initially found difficult to understand: individuals who had committed sexual offenses. What began as a challenge quickly became a passion. That experience fundamentally shaped the therapist I am today by teaching me the value of curiosity over judgment and the importance of understanding the complex factors that influence human behavior.
After spending five years working in sex offense-specific treatment, I transitioned into private practice to focus more fully on the part of the work I found most meaningful: helping people understand themselves, navigate difficult experiences, and create lasting change free from external pressure, labels, or assumptions.
Today, that same curiosity continues to guide my work. Whether I'm working with individuals, couples, or coaching clients, I'm interested in understanding how you got here, where you want to be, and what's getting in the way.