the counseling side of me…
MA in Counseling
BA in Biblical Studies
Diploma of Advanced Biblical Studies
Certified Right-Step Facilitator
Certified Faith-Based Counselor in the State of Texas
Therapeutic Art Certified
Visionary Art Therapist Program
Continuing Education:
* with Dr. Cathy Malchiodi:
The Happiness Project
Bilateral Stimulation (BLS) and Sensorimotor Expressive Arts Therapy (SEAT) – Certified
* with NICABM (The National Institute for the Clinical
Application of Behavioral Medicine):
The Clinical Application of Compassion
Treating Trauma
How to Work With Shame
How to Work With Anxiety
Fostering Post-Traumatic Growth
Working With the Traumatized Brain
Working With Traumatic Memory
I have a passion, a calling, an anointing, and a purpose to help people understand God’s ways and how to apply them to their lives…I am a guide, an explorer, a fellow traveler – helping people find paths of peace and healing as they journey through life, piecing the broken places together again, moving out of woundedness and towards a restoration of the heart.
Having the above list of credentials is good, but what really matters to me is what God says…I love this passage from the Old Testament:
Thus says the LORD, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the LORD. Jeremiah 9:23-24
It is most important to me that I know Him better each passing day, and that I can help others find closeness with Him after trauma and/or spiritual abuse has crushed their heart, soul, and spirit.
How did all this begin?
Snapshot from the past: I am working in corporate America in the 80’s (picture suit jackets and high heels!) My job required lots of interaction with other employees. After our business was done, many would stay and converse, soon sharing troubles or personal matters that had them perplexed. In the course of conversation, I would share insights and plans of action – and these snippets of advice would work…causing the people to come back to my desk for more! I started getting the hint that something was going on here!
Fast forward: In the 90’s I pursued the counseling degree that I believed God was leading me into! The first class touched on so much that I had already written about in my quiet time journal, that I actually used my journal to prepare my homework and papers. God was making His point! Professors and fellow students told me I was “a natural”. I could sense that the work stirred up the Spirit within me – I was clearly pursuing what God had created me for. And since I am somewhat shy, it was/is very comical that He would fashion me to work with all sorts of persons!
Additionally, people would continue to come to me (as if God was sending them) and even strangers would share personal pain which I could address (that is how God’s anointing works…I have even been talking to people on the phone and they gradually start to share, catch themselves, and apologize for getting into personal issues…I just smile and say, “It’s OK, it’s my anointing. It happens all the time!”) With this sort of activity continuing, I started my internship midway through my counseling studies and finished my hours before I was finished with my degree!
Today: After being in private practice and on staff at a church, I have been “semi-retired” as we homeschooled our last child. She is now graduated. So, I get to pursue guiding others through therapeutic art experiences. The symbolic nature of art is a great way to work through traumas, helping clients identify experiences that are deemed “unsafe” to reveal using traditional talking types of interventions. Art is a “safe” way to access information that is still triggering to the client. It is a way to process emotional intensity, to process non-verbal or even pre-verbal type trauma. Art can also become a vehicle for creating healing strategies, to conceptualize new, healthier tools for living, and to bring regulation into both the body as well as the mind.
I share creative and practical ways to apply scriptural principles and cutting edge neuro-science to many of the challenges people face today. I guide my clients to find direction in their healing, to get “unstuck”, or make a small adjustment in a course of action they have taken. We work on regulating and processing intense emotions so that the trauma can be resolved.
Many times, buried traumatic experiences are fueling today’s problems. Each person has learned to live with their painful experiences in unique ways – requiring a unique path toward healing to be found and followed. It is my passion to help you find that path for yourself or your loved one…and to be a guide along that healing path – and art and other creative modalities are wonderful ways to bring regulation and healing to the total person.
Truly, as Picasso declared, “Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.”