I am a licensed clinical social worker and psychotherapist. My decision to enter this field was the result of my own experiences with therapy, through my work in health research, and through my work as a birth doula with young folks.

I love my job. I consider it an immense privilege to bear witness to stories of pain and healing. I am humbled and grateful that you are considering putting your trust in me.

My approach to clinical work is relational, integrative, and systemic. This means that I see relationships as foundational to healing and welll-being, and that I draw on multiple therapy modalities to support growth and change. As a systemic practitioner, I believe that many factors impact mental health, and that these occur within individuals, families, communities, and whole cultures.

I believe in the transformative power of relationships. A safe relationship is foundational to the work of therapy. I will work to understand what will make our therapeutic relationship feel safe for you. To build your trust, I bring a non-judgemental and curious stance. I seek to understand where our experiences and identities may intersect and diverge both in and out of the therapy room. I value intersectionality and difference.

It is important to me to listen deeply, and to check in with you and make sure I am understanding. I value collaboration, and will seek to engage your inner wisdom and strengths as we develop goals for our work together. If I think it could be helpful, I may refer you to other kinds of providers and healers so we can collaborate to best support you. My style is warm and non-directive, though I will provide guidance and teach you skills as they feel helpful to our work together. When called-for, I may drop the occasional expletive. I will do my very best to meet you where you are at, and we will make space to evaluate how well our work together is helping.

Our therapy sessions will depend on your needs and the goals we have developed together. In our sessions, our home-base will be talking and exploring through words. I will incorporate playful, creative, mindfulness and body-based strategies to support our goals. I use skills-based therapies to help you in developing a rich toolbox of coping strategies. I am trained in EMDR (click here to learn more ), which is a very effective approach to treating trauma. We will work together to understand what you need for healing and growth. “Then you begin, slowly, to read the whole story.”

The following theories and approaches most inform my practice:

Contemporary Psychodynamic Therapy (Relational/Parts-Work)

EMDR (Adaptive Information Processing Model)

Attachment Theory

LGBTQ+ and TGNC Affirmative Practice

Intersectional Feminist Practice

Mindfulness-Based Interventions

Body- and Sex-positive Practice (HAES, Kink-allied)

My areas of clinical focus and specialization are in reproductive health, trauma support & recovery, and LGBTQIA-affirmative practice.

I can help with:

Healing from family-of-origin or childhood traumas

Psychological impacts & mood changes related to family-building, birth, or adjustment to parenting (including fertility concerns, pregnancy loss, and birth trauma)

Gender and sexual identity exploration & development

Managing ongoing mood issues (depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder)

Attachment/Dependency

Shame

Relationship concerns

I work with individuals, couples, and families (biological & chosen). I primarily work with adults, but have experience working with children as young as five. I also enjoy working with parents seeking to understand and support an LGBQIA identified or questioning young person. If you have an infant, they are always welcome in the therapy room.

I also provide clinical and professional consultation services for individuals and groups. I provide clinical supervision for therapists-in-training. To learn more, please reach out.

I am the founder and owner of Bloom Therapy. I provide psychotherapy and professional consultation services online through a secure teletherapy platform.

In addition to my work running Bloom Therapy, you can also find me at Beyond the Baby Blues (Evanston, IL), a not-for-profit organization, where I facilitate free therapeutic support groups for people who have experienced pregnancy loss and for people experiencing depression, anxiety or other mood changes in pregnancy or the postpartum.

I also volunteer with Postpartum Support International, where I facilitate a free peer-to-peer support group for LGBTQIA parents experiencing mood concerns.

Education and Licensure

In Progress │University of Illinois at Chicago │PhD in Social Work

2016 │University of Chicago │MA in Social Work

2011 │University of Alberta (Canada) │BA (Hons) Linguistics

2011 │University of Alberta │Cert. Translation Studies (French)

State of Illinois │Licensed Clinical Social Worker (149.020470)

Postgraduate Clinical Training and Certification

2020 │EMDR Foundational Training (certification in process)

2020 │All Pregnant People: Trans Birth for Birth Workers │Collaborate Consulting

2019 │Therapeutic Treatment of Birth Trauma Level 1 & 2 │Birth & Trauma Support Center

2018 │Perinatal Mental Health Certification │Postpartum Support International

2018 │Postgraduate Psychotherapy Fellowship (LGBTQ Affirmative Practice & Adult Trauma Treatment) │Live Oak, Inc.

2016 │Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Training │Medical University of South Carolina

I am originally from Edmonton, Alberta, but have called Chicago home since 2014. Growing up in Northern Alberta, I spent a lot of time enduring long cold dark winters and thinking that the pretty frequent dark cloud over my head was just a part of my personality. I’ll forever be grateful to the therapists who helped me disentangle what was me, and what was symptom.

The role that therapy played in helping me feel at home with myself — holding and accepting all the the parts of me including those that represented painful moments, traumas, shame, and other things I wished weren’t there — was a big part of what led me to become a therapist. It’s also a big part of why I gravitated towards the specializations that I hold. I know what it is to feel unmoored.

When I am not at work, I enjoy spending time with my wife and children and our chosen family here in Chicago.

I am not great at sitting still, and I always have a project (or five) on the go. I like that I am driven, passionate, and sensitive. I sometimes consider these traits to be my superpowers, though they don’t come without their challenges (I am getting better about taking breaks to rest and replenish). My friends and family will tell you that I am warm, outgoing, creative, zesty, expressive, curious, intentional, and dedicated.

I love cooking and baking for people I love, and I dabble in handicrafts. I love coffee and tea and drink both hot year-round. In Chicago, you might spot me cycling along the lakeshore with my dog in a backpack, or swimming in the lake. I’m proud to have completed a number of long-course triathlons. Hiking in the Rockies is one of the things that helps me feel most deeply grounded and whole.