My Professional Journey

I am a Licensed Independent Social Worker (LISW) in the State of Iowa, having earned my M.S.W. from the University of Iowa in 1989.  I also completed an M.A. in Counseling from Colorado Christian University in 1995 with an emphasis in counseling from a biblical perspective.  My past clinical experiences include 4 years of work in residential treatment and outpatient counseling with Lutheran Social Services, 5 years of school social work with Heartland Area Education Agency, 11 years of private counseling practice with Family Legacy and selected church settings, 16 years as the Director of Leadership & Counseling at Grand View University, and currently a return to school social work and maintaining a small private practice.  

Counseling is a significant way to enrich one’s life and relationships, and I find great joy working together with individuals and couples toward healing, growth, and change.  I enjoy helping clients better understand the concerns they bring to counseling, contemplate how their past informs their present situation, and consider how they can successfully engage in change even during the most difficult of circumstances.  I deeply believe that our relationships are at the heart of our most significant healing and change, and that the narratives we bring to our life, hope, and faith meaningfully influence how we live and approach our concerns.

While I practice as a generalist, I annually participate in specialized trainings to further my development as a counselor.  I am particularly skilled in working with relational concerns, anxiety and depression, spiritual formation, couples counseling, grief and loss, trauma and abuse, and men’s issues.  I learn every day from those whom I’ve had the privilege to counsel, and I strive to engage with authenticity, sincerity, empathy, and celebration.  I consider it an honor to be invited into the lives of those with whom I work.