Education & Experience

I bring a unique passion and authenticity to my life’s work to assist suffering individuals and families navigate the devastation of betrayal during the discovery of addiction, the difficulties of early recovery, the demanding work towards relational stability, and ultimately restoration of health, integrity, and joy in life for those suffering from addiction. It is my ardent desire to give addicts and their distressed families the highest quality and best available care in a nurturing, safe healing environment. My work is grounded in evidenced-based practices. As a Certifed Sex Addiction Therapist (CSAT), I completed extensive training through the International Institute of Trauma and Addcition Professionals (IITAP) with cutting-edge leaders in the addiction treatment field to learn to utilize the task-centered approach researched and developed by Patrick Carnes, Ph.D., a pioneer in the field sex addiction treatment. The state-of-the-art CSAT certification is quickly becoming an industry standard for addiction professionals. Additionally, I am trained to utilize EMDR to process through the trauma that so commonly coexists with addiction. EMDR is an evidenced-based practice now accepted as a treatment of choice by numerous trauma organizations. The Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs Practice Guidelines have placed EMDR in their highest category, recommended for all trauma populations at all times. The American Psychiatric Association Practice Guideline (2004) has stated that EMDR is recommended as first-line treatment of trauma. Likewise, the national registry (NREPP) of The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), an agency of the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) cites EMDR as evidence-based practice for treatment of PTSD, anxiety and depression symptoms, leading to an improvement in overall mental health functioning. EMDR has a broad base of published case reports and controlled research that supports it as an empirically validated treatment of trauma. EMDR allows individuals to rapidly process through and heal from the symptoms and emotional distress resulting from disturbing life experiences. EMDR is designed to reduce trauma-related stress, anxiety, and depression symptoms associated with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and to improve overall mental health functioning. I grew up in a small rural town in Southern Illinois. After graduating from Harding University in Searcy, Arkansas with a bachelors degree in Missions, I opted to pursue a career in the corporate world in Memphis, Tennessee. After many productive, but personally unfulfilling, years in both the shipping/logistics and pharmaceutical fields, I decided to go back to graduate school and to pursue my passion to make a difference in the lives of suffering people. For several years during graduate school, I gained experience in addictions working as a counselor in a well-respected local treatment center with both adults and adolescents and their families. After graduate school, I moved to Central Illinois and for a couple years worked with adopted children and their families before opening my own private practice.