Tami Widmer

Practitioner, She/Her/Hers

SPECIALTIES

• Deconstruction & identity recovery, complex trauma, depression, eating disorders, parenthood/postpartum care, LGBTQ+ folks, military personnel/veterans and/or their partners

• I meet with adult individuals and couples

After 25 years of being an “All-Star Christian”—raised in the church, deeply invested in my spirituality, with a Bible degree in hand and plans to be a missionary—I grew tired. Tired of over-serving, of being a flawless example, and of imposed limits because I am a woman. While earning my graduate degree in counseling, I realized that the religious dogma I once internalized began to feel like it was choking me. Simultaneously, I was experiencing personal losses – so when it felt like life was unraveling, I began therapy to explore the pain I was experiencing in the religious system. Through this process the tiny, perfect box that my life once fit in, blew open and the former right answers and assurances I previously clung to were no longer available to me. My process of deconstruction did not feel like a conscious choice, but instead a response to the gradual, intuitive movements of my soul. As I opened my heart to the world and myself for the first time, I outgrew my Christian worldview. Now, nearly a decade after my faith began dissolving, I am still healing and discovering the Wild (natural and free) woman within.

My own journey inspires my work with my clients. If you feel like you’ve lost part of your soul and are ready to recover hidden treasures that were there all along, I will voyage with you. If you are tired of sleepwalking—going through the motions of life, and want more out of life, I will explore with you. If your heart is broken and you’re not sure how to heal it, I’ll stand by you as it mends. If you have been hurt by religious systems, leaders, or entities and need someone to enter that space with you, I will help you find the safety to do that. Or if you don’t even know where to begin, if life feels scary and unknown—you are in the right place. I enjoy working with clients who are or have experienced Trauma, adverse religious experiences (including repressed femininity, toxic masculinity, shame culture, etc.), eating disorders, loss and bereavement, depression, veterans and partners of veterans, LGBTQ+ folks and parents (such as moms needing postpartum support). In our sessions, I pay attention to emotional and bodily cues and encourage nonjudgmental curiosity about whatever issue, emotion, or topic you are dealing with. This approach (called Internal Family Systems) allows you to create a healing relationship with yourself, which is the foundation for resilience in your external world. Previous clients tell me they experience genuine warmth and empathy in our relationship. I am here to support your journey as each individual is unique.

Outside of work, I'm a married mother of 3, so there is never a dull moment. I feel most alive when I am outdoors, hiking and breathing. I also love painting, a good cup of coffee, training for triathlons, doing my own therapy/holistic growth (yes, I find this fun!), traveling, and a glass of wine with some Netflix & chill.

Some of the resources that have been influential in my own healing journey include: time, nature, camaraderie with friends on similar journeys, IFS training and therapy, poetry (David Whyte, John O'Donohue), The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron, Belonging by Toko-pa Turner, and Bill Plotkin’s books.

• Master of Arts in Licensed Professional Counseling from Denver Seminary (2013)

Lauren Johnson-Horn

Practitioner, She/Her/Hers

SPECIALTIES

• My passion is seeing Third Culture Kids, Missionary/Pastor’s Kids, Parents, and LGBTQ+ clients connect to Self. This entails healing from childhood and Religious Trauma, traumatic events, cults, Domestic Violence and abuse, and working through Faith Deconstruction.

• I see individual adults.

The majority of my formative years as a child and adolescent were spent on the mission field with my family—I’m a missionary kid! Though I was afforded some incredible experiences and opportunities living overseas, after moving back to the US and beginning my graduate school program I was faced with the reality of the bubble I had grown up in that also included significant anxiety, fear of abandonment, much rigid thinking and living and unrecognized trauma. Though I had already begun my own process of healing years before the 2016 election, it was this event that made me keenly aware of many other unhealthy religious beliefs I held and I dove deeper into my own deconstruction. My healing took another turn in 2020 as the events of 2020 challenged me to dig deeper into equality, racial injustice, and political activism. Though I believe that healing is a lifelong process, I am grateful for the ways I have deconstructed and healed from so much! 

The experiences I have had in my own upbringing serve as an inspiration for the people I get to work with. Though I love working with people who have experienced any type of trauma, I find myself gravitating toward adults who have religious trauma, including former missionary kids, pastors kids and third-culture kids as it intersects with my own background! I use a variety of approaches with my clients including somatic and attachment focused interventions.

When I am not working I love being outside, spending time with friends and family, binge watching shows, listening to podcasts and audiobooks, and acting like a dork with my husband! Since I grew up on the island of Madagascar, I love hot weather, dancing, the ocean, and traveling. I would rather read a murder mystery or listen to a true-crime podcast versus reading a self-help book, and even though I don’t really think I’m that great of a cook, I’ll try making any dish at least once...and I cannot live without sushi!

I am a newlywed—married to another therapist which, as it turns out, is exactly the type of person I needed!

Some of the resources that have been of particular influence on me are: The Gifts of Imperfection by Brené Brown, Boundaries by Cloud & Townsend, Come as You Are by Emily Nagoski, “Sex with Emily” with Emily Morse (podcast), and “The Enneagram Journey” with Suzanne Stabile (podcast).

• Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy from Trevecca Nazarene University (2017)

Instagram 

• @lauren_johnson_counseling

Andrew Kerbs

Practitioner,  He/Him/His

SPECIALTIES

• I support those who are going through Deconstruction, Religious Trauma, life transitions, identity, and existential issues, healing from Purity Culture and Adverse Religious Experiences, and engage in grief work with my clients.

• I meet with individuals: children age 6 and above, teens, and adults!

Growing up in a fundamentalist religion, including going to a religious school, taught me that to truly love Jesus I needed to be persecuted, that the world would hate me and I needed to be prepared to ‘lay down my life’, even being killed for my faith—and if I wasn’t ready to do that, it meant I wasn’t a real Christian, didn’t love Jesus enough and possibly wasn’t even saved. This caused immense amounts of anxiety and trauma from the time I was a small child. After high school I made the “rebellious” decision to go to a state school instead of a religious school and began my deconstruction process; graduate school brought along even more of my own healing and I realized that doing my own healing work was the only way that I could help others heal.  

Though I am still unpacking my conservative Christian background, I am able to use my personal experiences in a professional setting to help others heal from their own trauma. I enjoy working with young and middle-aged adults who are working through their own existential issues that are having an impact on their daily life and functioning—which often includes trauma and other aspects of identity as they deconstruct from their faith of origin and process adverse religious experiences. While I utilize a variety of approaches, I gravitate toward Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Grief work and somatic-based trauma modalities to work with my clients. One of the ways I have found to be helpful for myself and my clients to get back into the body is through Brazilian Jiu Jitsu which I consider both a spiritual and healing practice. 

When I am not at the office I enjoy spending time with my fiancée and her family, reading non-therapy books (like history, theology, fiction, and poetry), writing, chatting with folks in my online community and am known to re-watch the Lord of the Rings Trilogy (extended edition only!) many times over!

I love motorcycles and a good IPA beer—especially since my childhood church frowned harshly upon it! When the weather allows, I enjoy snowboarding, backpacking, and all things wilderness related!

Some of the resources that have been helpful for me in my own healing journey include: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini  as it had a profound impact on me and my relationship with my father. Also, the book Things Might Go Terribly, Horribly Wrong by Kelly Wilson which helped me both professionally and personally as it’s written by one of the leading researchers and practitioners in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. And of course, everything Brene Brown has ever said or written!

• Master of Arts in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Lenoir-Rhyne University (2017)

  
  

  
  

  
  

Instagram

@deconstruct_everything

Daniel Miller

 Practitioner, He/Him/His

SPECIALTIES

• My clients are typically dealing with religious trauma and adverse religious experiences, faith deconstruction, legacies of purity culture, LGBTQ+ identity, allyship, and parenting, loss of social community and shared meaning, transitions within or out of professional ministry positions, and changing experiences of masculinity. I collaborate with my clients to help them find ways to process their trauma so they can be “at home” in their own bodies and the world around them, leading daily lives that are meaningful and fulfilling. I take their lead, tailoring our work together around their aims and goals.

• I meet with individual adults as well as LGBTQ+ teens and their parents.

I grew into adolescence and adulthood fully immersed in the subculture of American evangelicalism, and I was a true believer. I sought to live the kind of life and be the kind of person, in all dimensions, that my religious tradition told me I should. I received my undergraduate degree from a sectarian college affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention, went on to earn a ministerial degree (the Master of Divinity) from a Southern Baptist seminary, and served as a pastor in a conservative evangelical church in Seattle, WA, for five years.

Over the course of my time as a pastor, I became disillusioned with evangelicalism. The two most decisive reasons for this were my affirmation of issues related to social justice, and my affirmation of LGBTQ+ individuals and communities. I abandoned evangelicalism almost twenty years ago and pursued additional academic studies, first in theology and later in the very different field of religious studies, eventually earning my Ph.D. from Syracuse University.

This background provided me with an intimate understanding of the complexities of religious identity and its effects (positive and negative) on individuals, society, and culture, as both a former “insider” and as an “outsider” with the critical tools necessary to analyze these issues. A few years ago, reflecting my desire to use this background and these skills to help others in a more concrete way, I co-founded the podcast Straight White American Jesus. My work on the podcast increasingly brought me into contact with others who had been traumatized within different religious subcultures (for example, American evangelicalism, Mormonism, conservative Catholicism). It is through this show and my role with CTRR that I am able to focus on helping others to understand the dynamics of American religious and cultural conservatism in relation to politics and culture and recover from their own religious trauma.

When I'm not working and co-hosting a podcast, Straight White American Jesus, you’ll find me enjoying time with my kids, playing video games, and rooting for the Denver Broncos.

Some books I’ve found both insightful and helpful include Shameless: A Sexual Reformation by Nadia Bolz-Webber, Pure: Inside the Evangelical Movement that Shamed a Generation of Young Women and How I Broke Free by Linda Kay Klein, Beyond Trans: Does Gender Matter? by Heath Fogg Davis, White Too Long: The Legacy of White Supremacy in American Christianity by Robert P. Jones, In an Unspoken Voice by Peter Levine, and The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk.

• Bachelor of Arts in Religion, Oklahoma Baptist University (1998)

• Master of Studies in Theology, Oxford University (2001)

• Master of Philosophy in Religion, Syracuse University (2005)

• Doctor of Philosophy in Religion, Syracuse University (2008)

• Certification in Clinical Trauma Professional Training Levels and 1 and 2 (2022)

  
  

• Straight White American Jesus Podcast, Co-Host

• Instagram: @straightwhitejc

• Twitter: @straightwhitejc

Natalie Cox

Associate Practitioner, She/Her/Hers

SPECIALTIES

• I support individuals who have experienced complex and developmental trauma, may it be sexual, physical, emotional, or religious in nature; these can impact us on a soul level. It impacts how we experience ourselves, our relationships, our work, and our understanding of our place in the world. Symptoms of trauma may show up as low self-esteem, depression, anxiety, relationship or intimacy issues, memory or focus issues, grief, dissociation, and addiction to name a few. I work with individuals to recover and restore a connection to the deeper sense of self, the body, sexuality, creativity, community, and the world-at-large.

• I see individual adults.

• My flat rate for sessions is $125

My professional interests are personal due to my childhood wounding in combination with evangelical Christian ideology and influence. I grew up in the South and aligned strongly with Purity culture and the role assigned to women by conservative interpretations of faith. Adhering to these ideologies required rigidity in relating to myself, and the world, which temporarily propped up my damaged self-esteem but deepened the rift between my spirit and body. I believe this widening schism unconsciously helped me compensate for childhood trauma that I was unable to process or face for quite some time. Through love, loss, and the difficult lessons of life, my external seeking eventually turned inward. My childhood trauma and crumbling religion led me to a path of healing where I began to slowly gather my scattered self home to my body and psyche.

Before embarking on my career in a helping profession, I worked primarily as an illustrator for many years before moving into design and photography. Making art is still a necessary part of my life and I love working with clients who want to lean into creativity. I have had a particular connection to dreams since childhood-my earliest memory is a dream! I have studied the Jungian approach to dreams and welcome client's dreams into the therapeutic space for those interested in exploring them. I am an INFP on the Myers-Briggs and a 4 on the Enneagram. I am obsessed with my small garden and all the creatures that it attracts. I still find magic in fiction, fairy tales, sci-fi, myths, and in stories about outcasts who beat the odds.

Some of my favorite resources include: 

Books : Trauma and the Soul by Donald Kalsched, Waking the Tiger by Peter Levine; The Body Keeps the Score by Bessel Van Der Kolk, Revolutionizing Trauma Treatment by Babette Rothschild, The Cultural Complex by Thomas Singer & Samuel L. Kimbles, Women, Race & Class by Angela Y. Davis, Art is a Way of Knowing by Pat B. Allen, Dance of Intimacy by Harriet Lerner, It Didn’t Start with You by Mark Wolynn, Codependent No More by Melodie Beattie, Man and His Symbols by C.G. Jung, The Religious Function of the Psyche by Lionel Corbett, Radical Acceptance by Tara Brach, Lovingkindness: The Revolutionary Art of Happiness by Sharon Salzberg, The Archetypal Imagination by James Hollis.

• Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies, Antioch University, Los Angeles (2016)

• Masters of Arts Counseling Psychology with an Emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy and Depth Psychology, Pacifica Graduate Institute, 2024

Nicole Clifton

Associate Practitioner, She/Her/Hers

SPECIALTIES

• I support individuals navigating faith deconstruction, healing from purity culture, LGBTQIA+, religious trauma and adverse religious experiences, life transitions, boundaries work, identity, chronic illness/ableism, and body image.

• I see individual adults.

• My flat rate for sessions is $125

I grew up in the Christian church, incredibly involved, truly the poster child for the “good Christian girl.” - youth group, singing on the worship team, volunteering in ministry, etc. After high school, to take my faith even more seriously, I decided to attend a small Christian college. It was during my undergrad years that the first igniting events of my faith deconstruction occurred, namely some significant changes in my family of origin. I felt like so many Christians “didn’t get it” and could only offer trite clichés, not knowing how to truly enter into my pain and grief with me as I watched my family shift. Through this, I began to wrestle with faith, God, the Bible, theology, and the like.

After under-grad, I worked at another Christian university for almost a decade. In this season during my 20s, my own faith deconstruction continued its slow burn, with the flame getting bigger as the years went on....and as that environment created many opportunities/challenges to wrestle with so many topics. So many of the things that so many of us have struggled with and shifted on - theology around LGBTQIA+ folx, racism in our country and its overlaps in the church/politics, the negative impact of purity culture, diet culture/fatphobia, ableism, the toxic positivity and spiritual bypassing that were rampant in many of the Christian spaces I was in, the presidential elections of 2016/2020, the pandemic, etc.

While I had seen a few other therapists earlier in my 20s to process issues in my marriage around sexuality (many internalized toxic messages due to purity culture), I finally found the right fit with the right therapist in 2018. She helped me truly start to integrate all that I was processing around sexuality & my marriage, and helped me connect that with my deconstruction and the spaces where I had been harmed. We did some significant work (including EMDR), and it helped me find some healing within my own body and shifted how I engaged with my shame.

There is always more healing and more growth to pursue, of course, but there is such a softer, kinder, more compassionate framework for that change now.

I married my college sweetheart and thankfully we deconstructed together, so I'm deeply grateful for the journey we've been on. I LOVE to read and the front room of my house is basically a mini-library. I'm a big Disney and Harry Potter fan. I deeply enjoy a good glass of wine & a piece of cheesecake. I don't have any pets, but watch more nature documentaries than basically anyone I know. I love musical theater and grew up around the performing arts - so I can sing, play piano, used to play violin (and even played in a hand bell choir at church growing up). My comfort re-watch shows include things like Schitt's Creek, Gilmore Girls, Stranger Things, New Girl, Modern Family, The Big Bang Theory, Friends, and Once Upon a Time.

Enneagram - 8w9; Myers-Briggs - INFJ; StrengthsFinder - Input, Empathy, Communication, Developer, Connectedness, Achiever, Learner, Discipline, & Individualization

Some of my favorite resources include :

Music : "Hell Together" by David Archuleta, "You Might Not Like Her" and "If It's Not God" by Maddie Zahm, "Sunday" and "Jordan" by Joy Oladokun, "Woman" by Joy Williams, "Jesus Jesus" by Noah Gunderson, Preacher's Kid by Semler, "Believe Me" by James and the Shame, "I Quit Church" by Matt & Toby, "The Middle" by Audrey Assad, and "Show Yourself" by Idina Menzel

Podcasts: The deconstruction podcast episodes of "Ear Biscuits" - hosted by Rhett and Link of Good Mythical Mornings. (Episodes 226 & 227, 275 & 276)

Books : The Body Is Not An Apology by Sonia Renee Taylor; Daring Greatly by Brene Brown; Secure Love by Julie Mennano; What Doesn't Kill You by Tessa Miller; Untamed by Glennon Doyle; Pure by Linda Kay Klein; Come As You Are by Emily Nagoski

• Master of Science in Psychology from Grand Canyon University (2014)

• Bachelors of Science in Counseling and Ministry from Arizona Christian University (2011)

Instagram

• @nicoleclifton_inyourcorner

Facebook

• Facebook: Nicole Clifton - AlwaysNYourCorner

Sherah Pettus

Experience Intern, She/Her/Hers

SPECIALTIES

• I support individuals who are navigating relationships in the middle of deconstructing purity culture or are learning how to find and communicate their boundaries. We go on a process of learning to break cycles of codependency and people-pleasing while creating new patterns to facilitate supporting a big, beautiful life. My approach is client-centered and mostly focused on tuning the client back into themselves to be able to trust who they are and that the decisions they make are good.

• I see individual adults.

• My flat rate for sessions is $100 and I have a sliding scale ranging from $40-100

I have always been passionate about bringing language to patterns I could see. Growing up as a pastor’s kid in widely known evangelical spaces and attending a literal handful of bible schools, I had a vast experience with patterns that had no language until 2019. Attending therapy, starting grad school, and beginning my anti-racism journey opened a world of understanding into systemic oppression and abuse in its many forms. After bringing language to the harm I experienced in evangelical spaces and relationships, I am excited to guide others in finding language for their experiences. I have a unique approach to healing by integrating boundaries, redefining self-care, and exploring the true meaning of self-trust. I believe that the foundation for living a big, beautiful life is healing our relationships with ourselves.

“You can never know everything and part of what you know is always wrong. Perhaps even the most important part. A portion of wisdom lies in knowing that. A portion of courage lies in going on anyway” - Lan Mandragoran, Wheel of Time

My favorite day is cool and crisp, with a bit of rain, so I can curl up in a cozy blanket among my plants and read the latest Sarah J Maas book. I adore fantasy fiction, comfy clothes, and cool weather. I have over 15 plants that are slowly becoming an obsession, and they are climbing the walls of my home. When I have the time, I enjoy cooking and trying new foods.

I am a sucker for a personality test, so here are mine: Myers/Briggs: INTJ Enneagram: 5, DISC: CD

Some of my favorite resources include: 

Books : Set Boundaries, Find Peace by Nedra Tawwab; The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work by Dr. John Gottman, PhD; The Great Sex Rescue by Sheila Gregoire; Rootbound: A Mothers Journey, A Daughters Pain by Melanie and Amanda Huggard.

• Central Baptist College – AA in Counseling (2003)

• Christ for the Nations Institute – AA in Practical Theology (2008)

• Internship at Vancouver BC Stream Ministries – Certificate of Completion (2010)

• Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry -  Certificate of Completion (2016)

• Simpson University - BA of Psychology (2019)

• National University - MA in Marriage and Family Therapy Spring (2025)

Kim Johnson

Experience Intern, She/Her/Hers

SPECIALTIES

• I support individuals navigating childhood trauma, religious disorientation and/or faith crisis/deconstruction/deconversion and those going through life transitions. Grief work, meaning-making and existential-anxiety support are a few of my favourite territories. I'm a great fit for creatives, deep-feelers, HSPs and heart-centered folk who yearn to cultivate a grounded life and spirituality uncoupled from their previous adverse religious experiences. I have experience with prophetic culture and purity culture.

• I see individual adults.

• My flat rate for sessions is $100 and I have a sliding scale ranging from $40-100

I didn't grow up in a religious household, but the summer I turned ten, Billy Graham was preaching on my grandmother's television set. Without being born again, he said, we were hell-bound, but with a simple prayer, we would be spared. He called it "The Good News", but it sounded like terrible news to me. I looked around the living room to see if anyone else found his words appalling, but my grandmother and my uncle were both nodding in agreement. On the TV screen, I watched as droves of people got up out of their seats to go forward to receive salvation (years later, I learned that many of those people were hired by the marketing team). In that moment, I made a decision: I must be the one who's wrong. I said the prayer, repeating silently after Billy, and thus began my life as a church-going, "on-fire", "plugged-in" Christian. Sunday School teacher at 16, worship leader at 18, youth pastor at 20, internationally-distributed worship leader and recording artist by my mid-20s. Somehow I'd gone all in without even realizing that the foundation of my belief system was fear and shame. Because of this, I was also numb to the other ways religion was violating me and others. When it all reached a tipping point at age 26 and my faith crisis-ed, my world opened and also crumbled.

My healing path has been about tending to the little me who didn't run screaming from my grandmother's living room that day, but instead, succumbed to self-abandonment. A life-altering depression and the birth of my first daughter became an open door into my own deepest experience. But as the years went by, I found that the harms were still imprinted somewhere inside me. I was diagnosed with c-PTSD and suffered severe chronic fatigue. My marriage collapsed. Deeper healing began when I started practicing yoga (despite the stern warnings of Mark Driscoll!) and began to understand the data my body was giving to me. I learned to soften around constriction, befriend the terrible feelings and trust myself again. Slowly, my trauma began to thaw.

My own journey to reclaim my life inspires me to hold space for others navigating similar tender terrain. Using the tools of somatic embodiment, I help clients reconnect with their inner-knowing, address past wounds, and build inner resilience. I also incorporate other healing practices when called for, such as expressive writing, guided meditation and simple ritual.

I live on an island on the wild west coast of Canada. I'm the mother of two nearly-grown daughters and the owner of two cats and one sweet Bernese Mountain dog. I spend time every day in the forest and near the river or the ocean. I recently discovered the term "ecstatic wanderer" and I consider myself one. In my free time I write and perform music under the name Kim June Johnson and play with cyanotype printing. I teach yoga and mindfulness in my small community and host an online writing gathering called "Cozy Sunday Write-Ins".

Some of my favorite resources include:

Books: "Steering by Starlight" by Martha Beck, "Women Who Run With the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype" by Clarissa Pinkola Estes, "Faith: Trusting Your Own Deepest Experience" by Sharon Salzberg, the mentorship and grief-ritual work of Francis Weller (his book "The Wild Edge of Sorrow" is always on-hand), the work of Byron Katie and the creative recovery work of Julia Cameron, author of "The Artist's Way".

• Certified Yoga Therapist (C-IAYT)

• Certified Practitioner of Focalizing

• Complex Trauma Professional - Level 1 & 2 (in-progress)

Amy Congdon

Practitioner, She/Her/Hers

SPECIALTIES

• I support clients recovering from Purity Culture and Religious Trauma, Faith Deconstruction, post-abortion experiences, and racial identity and trauma, including LBGTQ+ folks (including adolescents), polyamorous/ethically non-monogamous individuals, and those who are neurodivergent, especially with ADHD as well as autism.

• I meet with adolescents and adult individuals.

I was raised in a culturally Chinese, conservative Baptist church and witnessed firsthand the ways that an honor-shame based culture can so easily marry with an often shame-based religious structure. I remained part of evangelical church culture through early adulthood, even attending bible college with plans of becoming a worship pastor. The first questions I began to ask myself that led to the beginning of the deconstruction of my faith were related to the ways in which the church claims to be rooted in love, but went well out of their way to let queer folks know they were inherently sinful. I could not equate the two, and eventually moved away from and rejected evangelicalism. Once I had enough space to process, I realized that I identify as queer and that the negative impacts of Christian purity culture kept me from understanding this about myself. 

So much healing happened for me through connection with other individuals who had similar experiences, as well as talking and processing with therapists and other professionals. And part of my continued healing journey is to offer back to others the compassion and support that brought me to where I am today. My own journey helps to inform the way I work with clients. I love working with people who are looking to explore and understand their identities and how these identities have been impacted by trauma. I work from an awareness of the ways that identities intersect and the ways this intersectionality will have resulted in a unique experience for each client. While I use a variety of approaches in working with clients, including virtual EMDR, I have a deep appreciation for Internal Family Systems (IFS) and attachment work as well as interpersonal neurobiology.

When I am not working I stay busy with my family as a mom of two amazing kids and a supportive partner. I am a lover of being as social as possible in a busy world. I’m also on the board of directors for Exhale, a non-profit organization that provides post-abortion support. Being active in and informed about what is happening in my local community is extremely important to me as I prioritize being an advocate personally and professionally. I love being outdoors, hiking, the mountains, beaches of the Oregon coast, and star-gazing. When forced to be indoors, you can find me enjoying true crime documentaries and re-watching The Good Place or Schitt’s Creek. My job history is quite diverse, from teaching, to barista-ing, to even being a youth minister while professing an agnostic faith. I like to try a little bit of everything, locations, jobs, hobbies - this includes trying all the foods, too! 

I identify as a Chinese American, queer, cisgender woman. I’m a personality test enthusiast and an enneagram 4 wing 3 and iNFj (emphasis intentional). I’m also a musician, love to sing and dance, and am the kind of person who will try any crafty-type endeavor once, which means I am a self-taught sewist and crocheter of all things. Sometimes I’m a writer and haiku poet as well. 

Due to spending a lot of time thinking about purity culture and its impacts, I have found Pure by Linda Kay Klein, #ChurchToo by Emily Joy Alison, Come As You Are by Emily Nagoski, and The Body is Not An Apology by Sonya Renee Taylor all to be incredibly helpful in finding validation and healing. In the way of deconstruction, I felt very validated in the stories shared in Educated by Tara Westover and Unfollow by Megan Phelps-Roper. I also really enjoy poetry as a way of healing and have been profoundly impacted by the poetry of Padraig O Tuama, Naomi Shihab Nye, Tonya Ingram, and David Whyte.

• Master of Arts in Counseling from University of Missouri--Kansas City (2020)