About Me

For the past 20+ years, I’ve worked in the mental health field, combining lived experience with professional practice. This mix shapes how I show up as a therapist, consultant, and trainer. My approach is unusual in its level of transparency: I don’t hide behind jargon or distance. I bring insight, humility, and honesty into the room. Clients describe me as perceptive, adaptive, and unassuming—but what I value most is building a space where judgment and expectation fall away. I believe therapy isn’t about perfection. It’s about showing up fully human. I model that by being open about my own experiences, biases, and fears—and by practicing repair when I get it wrong. My “superpower” is the willingness to hold both vulnerability and strength at the same time, so clients and colleagues know they don’t have to carry their struggles alone. As the founder of Real Life Counseling in Vancouver, Washington, I lead a team of innovative practitioners providing more than 40,000 hours of mental health services each year. Across two decades in community mental health, I’ve built a practice rooted in compassion, candor, and accountability—for both clients and the colleagues I mentor and consult with. Outside of work, I’m a husband, father, and business owner who finds grounding in the woods and on my family’s inland northwest property. I’m passionate about hiking, exploring new trails and lakes, and getting my hands dirty with hobby homesteading. Looking ahead, I’m preparing to launch an EMDR training program for therapists, expanding the circle of healing beyond my own practice.