About Me

I was born in Western Kentucky and grew up in the rural Midwest. I earned a full academic scholarship to Vanderbilt University where I graduated with honors in (theoretical) mathematics. I spent the next 17 years climbing the corporate ladder, following my career to San Francisco, CA; Metropolis, IL; Tulsa, OK; and finally San Diego, CA. I was a proficient SQL programmer and my forte was the analysis of large data sets. I grew into management and eventually senior executive positions in marketing, analytics, and IT.

Through these experiences I honed my skills in analysis and the ability to assess a large amount of information and figure out what story it tells. I am also very aware of the stresses and politics of life in the corporate world. However, I was also intrigued by the study of psychology, so I spent a year volunteering at a psychiatric hospital. Later, I spent a year in Dublin, Ireland studying Psychology at University College Dublin. Eventually I earned a Master’s in Counseling Psychology from National University.

I spent a few years counseling at The Salvation Army’s inpatient substance abuse program. I helped to develop their family and couples counseling program and was voted “Counselor of the Year” for 2012. I have taught classes on a variety of topics and have experience with individual, couples, family, and group counseling. I’ve also worked doing behavioral therapy with autistic children and was credentialed as a Registered Behavior Technician (RBT). I used to be the clinician for the San Diego Mental Health Collaborative Court where I worked with justice involved clients with severe mental illness. I spend a lot of time in the jails and courts interviewing and diagnosing in addition to my regular therapy and case management duties. I’ve been through both the PERT Academy Crisis Intervention training as well as the one day training they provide for law enforcement.