I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and Clinical Supervisor working with individuals, couples, and families. I help clients cope with grief and loss, anxiety, depression, trauma, abuse, and identity development. My work is informed by social justice, holistic wellness, and the fundamental belief in each client's version of "health."
Although my primary professional identity is currently as a full-time therapist, I spent 12 years working as a full-time professor. In 2023, I left academia to become a full-time virtual therapist and digital nomad. While exploring the world with my dog, I continue to develop my own liberatory experience while working with clients to cultivate their own through virtual therapy. My current goal is to create womanist fiction aimed at assisting African American women to free themselves from life choices that don't serve their ultimate well-being.
HOW DO YOU EMBRACE DIVERSITY AND/OR UNCONVENTIONALITY?
I hold the fundamental belief that we are all intersectional, diverse beings and that to celebrate unconventionality in others I have to first celebrate the way that it shows up in myself. My determination to love the things in myself, that are uniquely me, and increases my ability to love what I may view as unconventional in others. This belief has shaped how I show up as a friend, family member, therapist, educator, and activist.
HOW DO YOU EXPRESS YOURSELF CREATIVELY?
My Mother tells me that I sang before I left the cradle. My first identity in life was as a creative; as a singer. This then led me to a short singing career where I endeavored to help people through storytelling. I'm now a therapist, where I help people find their alternative narratives to challenges. Writing is another area of creativity, and I'm actively discovering my non-academic writing voice. Lastly, I express creativity through playfulness and humor in relationships.
HOW DO YOU THINK YOU CAN CONTRIBUTE TO THE COMMUNITY? WHAT DO YOU FEEL YOU ARE AN EXPERT IN AND COULD GIVE ADVICE TO THE COMMUNITY ON?
I'm an expert in healing the various wounds inflicted on marginalized communities. Some byproducts of these wounds are trauma, anxiety, depression, and identity ruptures. As a therapist who has been trained to understand how interlocking systems contribute to individuals' experiences, I believe that I can help the community understand how systems surrounding the community can impact the work of the community, and relationships within it. I can certainly mentor people who have a desire to become clinicians.
SHARE A VERY VALUABLE INSIGHT YOU DERIVE FROM YOUR PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE WITH THE WORLD: