My Values

Safety first. Compassion always. Honesty with warmth. Boundaries with care. Healing with depth.

I believe therapy works best when you feel truly seen, understood, and supported.

Many of the people I work with have spent years being the capable one. The helper. The responsible one. The person others rely on. They know how to hold everything together, but often struggle to find spaces where they can simply be human.

My approach is grounded in the belief that healing is not about fixing what is wrong with you. It is about creating enough safety for your nervous system to soften, helping you understand the patterns that once protected you, and supporting you as you build a life that feels more connected, regulated, and aligned with who you are.

I believe healing is your birthright. You do not have to earn your worth, your belonging, or your place in the world.

All identities, backgrounds, and life experiences are welcome here.

I am a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC) in Minnesota (License #04541) with advanced training in trauma, attachment, and nervous-system-based work.

I earned my Bachelor of Science in Family Social Science from the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities in 2017 and my Master of Arts in Counseling and Psychological Services, along with a Graduate Certificate in Addiction Studies, from Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota in 2022.

I began my work in the mental health field in 2017, supporting adults living with severe and persistent mental illness (SPMI). From the beginning, I knew this work was the right fit for me. I was drawn to the opportunity to understand people's stories, support them through difficult experiences, and witness the resilience that exists even during life's most challenging seasons.

Over the years, I have worked across community mental health, nonprofit organizations, intensive residential and co-occurring treatment programs, IRTS settings, child protective services, and private practice. These experiences allowed me to work with individuals navigating a wide range of emotional, relational, and psychological challenges, including trauma and complex trauma, addiction, severe mental illness, crisis stabilization, attachment wounds, anxiety, chronic stress, and high-functioning burnout.

My training and clinical interests include:

• Trauma and complex trauma
• EMDR-informed therapy
• Attachment and relational healing
• Anxiety and chronic stress
• Nervous system regulation
• Addiction and co-occurring mental health concerns

Working across these settings has shaped the grounded, compassionate, and relational approach I bring to therapy today. It has also reinforced my belief in people's capacity to heal, grow, and create meaningful change, even after experiencing significant adversity.

I was born on an island in Alaska and spent part of my early childhood in El Salvador before my family eventually settled in rural Minnesota.

Growing up between cultures and languages shaped how I understand identity, belonging, family dynamics, and the subtle ways culture influences how we relate, adapt, and make meaning of our lives.

As a first-generation college student and the oldest daughter in an immigrant household, I developed an early awareness of responsibility, emotional caregiving, and the quiet pressure many high-functioning adults carry long before they have language for it. Those experiences continue to shape the depth, warmth, and cultural awareness I bring into this work.

I value connection, curiosity, and creating a life that feels full outside of work. I love reading, creative projects, slow mornings, and spending time with my white-haired, yellow-eyed Persian cat, Leon, whose name translates to “lion” in Spanish.

Therapy and healing work deeply changed my own life, and over time, this work became something I felt profoundly called toward. Today, I feel incredibly grateful to help create spaces where people can feel more understood, emotionally safe, connected to themselves, and less alone in their experiences.

My own experiences also sparked a deep curiosity about how healing and change actually happen. Over the years, I became especially interested in the space between awareness and transformation. Many of the people I work with are thoughtful, insightful, and deeply self-aware, yet still find themselves feeling stuck. This has led me to explore the ways emotional safety, nervous system regulation, and lived experience help bridge the gap between understanding ourselves and creating lasting change.