Adolescence is a time of growth, exploration, and identity formation, but it can also be filled with emotional turbulence. As a therapist who loves working with teens and has spent over four years working in youth ministry, I believe I have an adequate understand of the unique challenges they face. From shifting friendships to academic pressures, family struggles, and emotional ups and downs, teens need a safe and supportive space to process their experiences. From an attachment perspective, therapy offers teens something…

What is Trauma? Trauma.What came to mind when you read that word? Was it war? Violence? A major accident? Abuse? If it was, you wouldn’t be alone. The more I talk with people, it’s the major events that seem to be most associated with the word trauma. And for good reason. War, Abuse, Violence, Racism, Poverty, Neglect and their link with trauma have been well studied and documented. However, trauma isn’t just the big terrible events that happen to us. Sometimes, trauma…

Why I Became a Therapist: Growing up I was always fascinated by people and what made us all so different and unique. I was interested in why I was the person I was which sometimes felt very different from my family and even my peers. When I reached high school, I took a psychology course that introduced me to this field. I learned that there was something I could study that answered all these curiosities I’d had. During undergrad, I had the…

Anger Management ANGER… it’s bad, it’s wrong, it’s too much, why am I so angry ALL THE TIME! We have ALL experienced anger in our lives and perhaps even explosive anger that leaves us shaken up. Now there’s nothing wrong with feeling angry, the important part is how we react and how we manage our anger. In fact, anger is one of the six core emotions; when we channel our anger well it can help us feel strong and healthy, it can…

About April I love how everyone has a story that tells how they’ve ended up where they are today. Sometimes it’s a dream that is passionately pursued. Other times it can feel like a series of circumstances that have fallen into place. I see my own journey to becoming a therapist more of an evolution. As a bright eyed and bushy tailed 18 year old, I pursued a bachelor’s degree in Family Life Ministry with a focus on Social Work. I spent…

Most people are very uncomfortable with feeling like someone is angry with them or that they have disappointed them in some way. As human beings, we enjoy being liked by others! That is a core experience we long for even as children. For example, a toddler frequently checks in with their parent’s facial expressions because they are looking for affirmation that they are doing something pleasing. What is mirrored back to us as children is a part of how our sense of…