About Me
5 Things to Know
1. I take a relaxed but engaged approach to therapy, making space for collaboration and authenticity. It’s important to me that clients feel safe. My main therapeutic approach, Internal Family Systems, is client-led and course-correcting; your full consent and permission is always my top priority. I also value humor during therapy, and often laugh with clients if the time is right.
2. I believe the most important focus in therapy is learning how to be safely ourselves. Harmful events and messages make it difficult for us to know what it means to really be ourselves. As a result of my own therapy journey, I now engage life in new, authentic ways: performing improv comedy and musical theater, increased honest communication with my family, and even exercising in ways that feel right for me.
3. I am a survivor of loss and adversity. My major grief experiences include deaths of a parent and pets, divorce, and loss of religion/community. I think we all experience grief, but we don’t always allow ourselves to recognize it. The most important thing with grief is to slow down with it, letting our feelings show up.
4. I’m a straight white guy. I recognize that I have multiple built-in privileges in our society. This can cause me to have both conscious and unconscious biases, which I’ve been working on for a long time and will continue to do so. If you and I have different identities, I think it’s okay for us to talk about that, if that well help you feel safe in our work.
5. IFS has helped me to see “parts” everywhere. When you see your own beliefs and feelings as parts of yourself, it’s easier to make space for them and understand them. Not only has IFS helped me to develop empathy for myself and other people, I see how people function as parts of society. I even notice parts in movies and TV shows now, and can’t stop talking about it (Inside Out 2, anyone?).
Who Am I?
I’m a Licensed Mental Health Counselor in Seattle, Washington, and I provide services via telehealth to clients around the state. I’m level 1-trained in Internal Family Systems therapy, a modality which has also helped me in my own healing journey. IFS has helped me learn about my nervous system through the physical sensations of my emotions. When my defenses are lowered and I feel safe, my personality is all sunshine and rainbows.
I grew up in a high-control Christian church many years ago, and the process of leaving that group was not easy. I experienced childhood bullying and emotional abuse, in part as a result of being homeschooled for several years. I am now ex-Christian and very liberal, and work to recognize my privilege as a cis-het white man in a society that actively oppresses anyone with a marginalized identity. I am very open to working with clients of various spiritual beliefs. I have experience as a Health at Every Size practitioner and am a member of Texas Society for Sexual, Affectional, Intersex, and Gender Expansive Identities. Climate justice matters a great deal to me and I am always working toward a more sustainable lifestyle.
Fun Facts
1. Holden (pictured, on top) is a star athlete! ⭐️
2. I used to work in software, spending the most time in the oil and gas industry. I hated it, so now I’m a therapist instead.
3. I went viral on TikTok for a couple weeks in September ‘24, with goofy footage from my musical theater dance class. Literally nothing in my life changed as a result.
4. I trained as a pro wrestler over the course of one summer during college. I competed in one match, and lost. The crowd was extremely happy.
5. I was three credits away from minoring in Pop Culture as an undergrad. So close! 😖
Education/Qualifications
Licensed Mental Health Counselor (Washington: #LH 61047103); Licensed Professional Counselor (Texas: #92387)
Internal Family Systems, Level 1 (IFS Institute)
Master of Education, Clinical Mental Health Counseling (Lamar University, 2018)
Bachelor of Arts, Computer and Information Sciences (The Ohio State University, 2008)
If you’d like to learn more, schedule a free consultation.