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I grew up on the east coast, and I felt a strong pull towards the outdoors, mostly through playing sports. However, it was during college when I learned how to create a connection with the natural world, which allowed me to start understanding resiliency and a deep and profound connection with myself that helped me foster true connections with others.
Nature then became my reset, and my most effective tool to decompress and process my feelings.
Throughout my early career I worked many seasonal jobs― serving as an environmental educator, taking on teacher naturalist roles, and eventually started guiding for backpacking companies. As I started guiding for a wilderness therapy organization, I learned that, although there are moments in nature that are incredibly positive and healing, there are also moments that we can't control―moments that are incredibly challenging and some that even seem intolerable.
I came to understand that healing is a deeply personal and non-linear journey.
At the same time, I started to develop a fear of heights, which felt really hard to process, considering rock climbing was one of my greatest coping skills and favorite enjoyments of life. I felt confused, embarrassed, and angry. As an outdoor professional, I perceived this shift as being "weak." It felt ostracizing, and I would typically just ignore what was happening in my body, pretending that I was okay. That suppression began to emerge in other ways like irritability, isolation, and depression.
Deciding to pursue wilderness therapy as a career, I enrolled in a clinical mental health counseling program through Naropa university's wilderness therapy track. That experience was profoundly transformative, illuminating how I could find self-compassion and inner resilience. Working through my own journey has helped me show up more compassionately, resilient, and authentic with my own clients.
I believe that genuine growth and resilience comes from continuous self-awareness and inner work, which is why I am committed to my own on going journey―so I can be a more authentic and supportive therapist for my clients