Committed to Your Growth & Well-Being

At Health with Heart Counseling PLLC, I have dedicated over twenty-five years to providing compassionate mental health counseling services. As a qualified therapist, I have witnessed many positive results with the use of IFS and EMDR therapy.

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Creating a Healing Environment

About Me

I grew up as a military child and moved every couple of years until high school. This included living in cities across the country as well as in Europe. This propelled me to a longing to understand people, different cultures and emotional connections. After completing a degree in Psychology at Virginia Tech, I knew I wanted to continue to learn and grow in a career in mental health and went on to complete graduate work at Clemson University.

Career

Over my almost thirty year career, I have worked in a variety of settings and with a variety of populations. My ultimate passion turned to working with adults. Over the years, I have gained specialty training in trauma, addictions, anxiety and depression.

The first twenty years of my career, I utilized Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. While I still see huge benefits with this modality, I grew in understanding and deeper passion for some of the mind-body therapies, specifically Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Internal Family Systems (IFS).

My Therapeutic Philosophy

People I work with describe me as calm, easy to warm up to, non-directive, compassionate and fun. I won’t ever profess that I know what is best for someone. I provide psycho-education when requested but feel it is my role to actively listen and to lead individuals to an internal focus for answers. While I can sometimes help by discussing external solutions, my strengths lie in moving individuals to an internal focus.

Who I Am — Personally and Professionally

I am a Catholic Christian and my faith drives me and is very important to me. I welcome the intersection of faith with therapeutic work when it is requested. I also deeply respect that everyone is unique in their beliefs and their needs.

I have worked with many individuals over the years with differing spiritual journeys including different faiths, those who have encountered religious abuse pushing them away from God and those who are unsure or ambivalent about God. My aim is to meet an individual where they are assuring respect for and honoring of individual needs while seeking growth and healing.

Lastly, I am a wife, and Mom of three amazing grown adults. I am also a dog-mom of two beautiful labs. In my spare time, I love running and cycling. I’m the turtle type. I love the long endurance type races - Ironman races and ultramarathons. Ask me to do something short and fast and I will have a panic attack!!! I also love to read and to get lost in a tv series or movie.

Young green seedlings sprouting from rich soil.

Schedule Your First Conversation

Join me at Health with Heart Counseling PLLC to start your journey towards healing.

I’m Here When You’re Ready

Answers to Common Questions

How do I know you are the right therapist for me?

Engaging in therapy can be scary and can make you feel vulnerable. It is good to give therapy and me 2-3 visits to allow the process time to work unless you feel strongly at the start that our personalities don’t jive. The start is really about beginning a relationship. After 2-3 visits you should feel some level of comfort and that you can be honest and open with me. You should also feel that any questions or concerns have been addressed. It’s also important that you feel heard and understood. If you are not feeling these things after 2-3 visits, please let me know and we can discuss what needs to change.

How long will our appointments last?

Generally, appointments will last 45-50 minutes. I try to maintain awareness of our time and do my best to encourage a gradual move to closure for a session ending rather than an abrupt end to our time together.

What happens in the first session?

The initial session is the time for you to start to talk about “you” to your comfort level and to share what you would like to get out of our time together. I will ask questions to try to assure I am understanding your needs and desires. This is also a time for you to ask any questions you have about how I work.
Together, we will map out a plan for next steps.

How often will I attend therapy?

This is something we will discuss and decide on together and people have very unique needs and goals. Most people prefer meeting every 2-3 weeks but if doing trauma work, weekly sessions can be valuable and important.

Do you provide in-person on online counseling?

All sessions are provided online on my secure platform, SimplePractice. You will receive a link for you appointment 48 hours in advance of each session. For security, you will receive a unique link for each session.

I live in Georgia. Can I do online appointments with you?

I am licensed in the states of North Carolina and South Carolina and based on licensure laws can only see people who are actually physically in these states at the time of our appointment.