NEW Practice Offerings: South Carolina, insurance, and single sessions

With the recent completion of an updated telemental health ethics training course and the acquisition of valuable resources from The Knowledge Tree, I am thrilled to share that accessing telehealth in counseling is becoming more convenient for both counselors and clients. As a clinical counselor, I am excited about the potential to practice across multiple states through a national counselors pact, which could be in effect as early as next year. In the meantime, individual states are already making provisions. I have successfully registered as a telehealth counselor in South Carolina, which means I can now serve even more clients. These exciting changes will be updated on my website in the near future, making it easier for you to access the services you need.

For my valued Florida clients, I am delighted to announce that I am increasing accessibility by getting contracted with Florida Blue, or Blue Cross Blue Shield. I am working towards billing insurance by September or October. However, any BCBS clients who wish to be put on my waitlist can do so by emailing me or filling out my application. For clients who prefer to pay out of pocket, please remember that if you have out-of-network coverage, I can always create a superbill for you to submit to your insurance company for potential reimbursement. Your convenience and satisfaction are my top priorities.

Another way to approach healing services is by taking advantage of single-session or short-term options. If you are interested in remote energy healing (Thetahealing), a single session can often bring insight and relief to the energy body and mind. Astrology readings are also a great way to gain personal insight by booking a natal chart reading or asking a question that could be answered by reading your chart, such as: "What will my intimate relationships look like in the coming year?". Since I am a nutrition coach and cannabis educator, I can use my mental health background to help with any nutrition goals and stick with them. If you are using cannabis as medicine or for nervous system regulation, I am happy to provide education about ways to optimize cannabis as a personal medicine. Integration therapy for plant medicine work is one of the short-term options that can be used both before and after a journey. Many of my integration clients have reported benefiting from our work, and often are with me for 2-4 sessions. So many of these services are ways I can serve by offering short-term solutions for any of you concerned about cost over time.

If you are curious about any of these short-term offerings, feel free to ask me, and I will include your questions in my next blog post!

Enjoying the summer sun at my neighborhood beach.

Twenty Years of Practice: Authentic Collaboration

In the final installment of reflecting on my twenty years as a professional counselor, the last seven years of practice have been a lengthy integration process of evolving how I hold space for clients. As I incorporated more tools to help my clients become unstuck in trauma therapy, I also deconstructed my physical health to support treatment for PCOS. This process coincided with my plant medicine journey to give and receive love for my family, lessons in letting go, and uncovering the shadow parts of my identity that need more love and attention.

In 2016, I began to work with a nutrition company that specialized in optimizing my movement goals with food choices. I wanted to heal my metabolism from past eating disorders and learn how to eat to add muscle mass and reduce fat. This journey was challenging as my body adjusted to more food and weight training. I continued with more individualized nutrition and exercise coaching in 2017 and also began to increase my curiosity about using psychedelics for emotional healing. My spiritual practices continued to grow during this time. I received my first official astrology reading during the summer of the total solar eclipse, which prompted a lifelong curiosity to study astrology to understand my clients better.

In December 2017, the call to do plant medicine arrived, and my first experiences changed how I saw myself, my family, and our planet. I could access the love I knew I had inside me after feeling blocked from giving and receiving love freely. By the time 2018 arrived, I was ready to embark on my year-long astrology apprenticeship. My physical health had improved, my private practice was thriving, and I was beginning to learn more about the emerging field of psychedelic-assisted therapy and its promise in helping clients move through years of trauma and pain. By the end of that year, I had attended a training on psychedelic integration, which creates a space of intention for people who are using psychedelics for personal healing.

These significant events of personal and professional expansion showed me how I wanted to show up more effectively for my clients. My business coaching had prepared me for how to show up online to attract the ideal clients for more profound healing work. By January 2019, I had launched my new professional website, which reflects my professional, personal, and spiritual presence more authentically. The previous year had also revealed my need to separate from the family I helped create. I was devastated that the love I felt during plant medicine could not sustain our future, and the separation process unfolded throughout 2019. I also found Zen Buddhism to assist in a new chapter of life, and I spent a month in a Buddhist retreat at Green Gulch Farm in California to reset my nervous system for this transition.

By the time the pandemic appeared in early 2020, I welcomed the enforced solitude of quarantine. I was already living alone, and working from home had been a dream of mine for years. Despite how devastating and confusing this time was for the world, the pandemic gave me many gifts. I took advantage of my situation and relocated to Atlanta. I understood that my separation allowed me to start expressing more parts of my gender and sexual identities. Moving away from my familiar community allowed me to express myself without fear as I played with my appearance, my partnerships with others, and my spiritual curiosities.

By the end of 2021, it was time to relocate again to the Florida panhandle, where I could be closer to family and the ocean breezes. Becoming a digital nomad--a telehealth counselor--is now my reality. While my home base is in Florida, I retained my other counseling licenses due to increased client access. Professionally, I used the pandemic to learn more about ancestral or generational healing and somatic trauma therapy. In 2022, I embarked on a year-long training for ketamine, MDMA, and psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy. This training coincided with my autism diagnosis in June of the same year, which created another healing crisis.

Neurodiversity language had begun to increase online and in mental health communities as many people learned of their undiagnosed autism, ADHD, or other neurodiverse identities while being quarantined. I now see my struggles through the lens of life-long autistic burnout, which has manifested as chronic physical and mental health conditions consistent with a sensitive and rigid nervous system. As a result, I have since taken professional training to help support partners in neurodiverse relationships, help adult clients navigate the process of receiving a formal diagnosis, how to use cannabis as form of nervous system regulation, and have learned more about the Persistent Drive for Autonomy (PDA) profile in neurodiverse brains.

I understood that my ongoing struggles, apart from my trauma history, better fit within an autism diagnosis, and this transparency with new people in my life has been invaluable. Last year, I met someone who is now my long-term partner and confidant. Showing up more unmasked and myself was scary, but the reward is feeling unconditional love for Ryan and me as we navigate a new life together.

As a person who identifies as gender fluid, pansexual, and autistic, my professional journey now mirrors a more accurate representation of how I show up as a counselor. Being open to a collaborative relationship with my clients has been an ongoing process of curiosity and openness. I am incredibly grateful for all the mentors, colleagues and friends who have mirrored their own authenticity in order for me to give the same gift to all my clients. As a result, I want to keep a childlike sense of wonder in my work and life. If reading my professional evolution has increased your curiosity, feel free to fill out an application to work with me here or email me!

Ryan and I at his solo art installation in Panama City, December 2023. Photo by Galina Wells Photography.

Twenty Years of Practice: Expansion & Growth

You are reading the third installment of my blog series on celebrating twenty years of practice as a professional counselor. In my third act, I begin the process of starting my private practice. By May 2014, I had opened up my practice after seeing the need to make more money, primarily due to being in a long-term committed relationship and becoming a stepparent. I wanted to ensure I could financially provide, and I saw my earning potential as a trauma therapist. I also began to explore other interventions for trauma after getting stuck again with some clients who had complex trauma linked back to early developmental years. 

In this exploration for more professional experience in treating developmental trauma, I had also undergone a miscarriage. This experience led me back to therapy to process the loss. It also allowed me to start taking steps to heal my physical health after the miscarriage diagnosed polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) as the cause. During this round of therapy, I was the recipient of neurofeedback to help with some of my trauma symptoms. Neurofeedback seemed to have great potential to help people reduce symptoms of PTSD and help regulate the nervous system. I decided to add neurofeedback to my new private practice, which allowed for more referrals and clients. 

After neurofeedback, I became curious about adding more tools to offer clients in my practice. I was also becoming more open to making my practice online and offering personal and professional coaching. A colleague invited me to a women's entrepreneur Facebook group, many of whom were trained therapists looking to add coaching or other online services. Many of them became successful, inspiring me to hire my first business coach and see a certified hypnotist. My curiosity around hypnosis came from seeing how many of my clients seemed stuck in therapy due to their defenses that seemed out of their control to change. I wondered if offering hypnosis would help clients overcome resistance and be open to more healing and wholeness. After being a hypnosis client, I began seeing how my thinking was holding me back from success and happiness. I became a certified hypnotist to learn how to encourage clients to relax and free themselves from the mental chains that were preventing their healing. 

Amid business coaching and hypnosis, I began to see my curiosity about spirituality broaden. Many of the women I encountered in my business coaching programs were spiritual, and I was open to exploring all different forms of expression. With my exposure to how changing thinking can become a spiritual practice in hypnosis, I attended some retreats led by my business coach. These experiences helped me have more positive experiences with women in a receptive and supportive setting. Professionally, I took another leap of faith and began training to become a remote energy worker with ThetaHealing. This empowering method was another example of how women modeled a positive experience around healing and recovery.

These experiences built more foundations to become a remote therapist and coach. The professional tools I accumulated also allowed me to attract my ideal clients more efficiently and effectively. As my practice grew, I was able to let go of many of the insurance companies that were paying far below the national average. I was healing my physical and mental health by learning more about how our bodies carry the burden of chronic stress and trauma. But with all my privilege and help, I felt blocked in my ability to receive and give love. It was time to level up again. Next time, I will embark on my final chapter that is still being written.

Embracing Neurodiversity: A panel discussion at Gulf Coast State College

Last month during Autism awareness month, I had a privilege of being a part of a panel discussion at Gulf Coast State College on Neurodiversity. While most school years are coming to a close, we had a robust conversation among two neurodiverse students and two professionals on a wide variety of topics in neurodiversity. Since our topics share so much relevance to neurodiverse students, clients and people in the world, I thought I would share a few of the questions and answers we discussed in the panel.

Our Neurodiversity panel at Gulf Coast State College: yours truly, Crystal Grey-Hewett from FSU CARD autism program, along with Darian and William, our neurodiverse student representatives.

• In what ways do you believe neurodiversity enriches academic, professional, or creative communities? Neurodiversity can enrich many spaces with innately different vantage points in which to approach a question, problem, outlook, behavior, or viewpoint. All spaces, when approached with curiosity and openness, can benefit from a different viewpoint or way of doing things.

  • Analogy of using hyper focus: For many ND people, they have the ability to hyper focus on areas of interest. This can look like: lots of research, collecting everything about the topic, making art about the topic, sending lots of emails or communicating for long periods about the topic. In this way, if you give an ND person something to work on that speaks to already expressed interest, you have a gem of a student, employee, or colleague to help assist in any joint effort.

• How can we better accommodate neurodivergent students, particularly those with ADHD and autism? Can students where sunglasses, hats, earplugs/headphones other wearable accommodations? Can lighting be adjusted if requested? Can students write down their questions or responses before being called upon suddenly in class? What are teachers communication expectations regarding email response time, etc?

• How can we as an institution and individuals foster an environment that not only accommodates but celebrates neurodiverse people? Allow for the unexpected and unusual. Let yourself be surprised by differing viewpoints and communication styles. Allow a person to talk with you about their special interest, then trade. Make time for special help or 1:1 time: learning lab, tutors, but also instructors. Allow what you used to think was weird or “out of bounds.”

• What strategies would you recommend to neurodivergent students to be proactive in their self-care and academic success? First, self-accommodation is self care. Second, look to your previous academic year as a guide for what may work. When in doubt, look to the big five: Sleep, nutrition, time management (schedule and downtime), sensory, and support.

• How can students build a support team on campus? What roles can peers, faculty, and mental health professionals play in this team? Utilize support services for learning (tutors), accommodations (disability services), class (office hours), finding a ND buddy on campus, counseling, advising, and mental health care if needed.

• What message or advice would you give to neurodivergent individuals about recognizing and leveraging their unique strengths? Your difference is your strength. Find people who see your difference and celebrate it, are curious about it, and want to know more. Many high functioning ND people feel as though their lived experiences of the world is different than other people. So letting your story be seen, be heard, and be expressed in a space where you are safe and supported!

• If you are reading this, and are interested in working with me, feel free to fill out my application here or email me. I look forward to helping you in your neurodiverse journey!

Twenty Years of Practice: Building & Specializing

My last blog post began a series on twenty years as a professional counselor. In the first four years, I was working in substance abuse facilities, getting my independent license, and realizing that a traditional full-time counseling job was burning me out. I began to exit my full-time job and build a bridge to full-time private practice. By the summer of 2008, I found a part-time counseling job at a DUI center, which could help build my job bridge. I also joined a private practice group to develop my caseload while learning how to do insurance credentialing for the practice. My third part-time job was at the local school district as a coordinator for the district-wide mentoring program. In my free time, I was also a dog sitter. By the fall, I had quit my full-time job. These part-time jobs were my bridge to a better professional future. I was running around from one job to the next, and this feeling of freedom and mobility encouraged and energized me to keep focusing on building my skills for private practice. Despite my varying work schedule, I enjoyed the variety of experiences I had.

After a semester at the school district, I let the job go due to ongoing scheduling conflicts. I picked up weekend work at the local psychiatric hospital as an admissions counselor, another growth edge in learning to use my skills for people in crisis. This season was about building a foundation for more professional freedom. I was connecting with other therapists doing private practice on the side and discovered a colleague who wanted to branch out and start a group practice. My growing skill set in insurance credentialing helped me feel empowered to join my colleague in their group practice, and another colleague joined us from the psychiatric hospital.

Starting a private practice takes lots of work and collaboration. By the summer of 2009, we had secured office space and began seeing clients. We were excited about the new endeavor and pooled our professional connections to market our practice in the old-fashioned way. While social media existed, we weren't using them for marketing purposes. In the previous two years, I had also undergone some personal transitions that had changed my associations with my family and spiritual beliefs. I was already living with my boyfriend and attending Al-Anon meetings for ongoing support and to establish a new community outside Christianity.

By this time, I had been feeling stuck with several clients in private practice. I could see how their struggles with chronic anxiety, depression, or substance abuse affected their lives. While I would be empathetic, validate, and provide coping skills, my efforts felt futile in the face of chronic distress and disease. Even traditional cognitive behavioral therapy didn't make a dent in relieving clients' symptoms.

I attended a seminar in the first group practice held by a colleague specializing in trauma. They were talking about Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing and its effectiveness in relieving trauma, chronic anxiety, depression, and even substance abuse. The talk made me curious about this modality, and I quickly referred one of my clients to this therapist. My colleague was gracious to allow me to observe the EMDR session they did with my client, and from that point on, I knew trauma was to be my area of specialty.

I quickly started researching EMDR training and found one in the fall of 2009 while building my caseload at the new group practice. The two-part EMDR training involves practicing the experiential modality on each other in triads. The training was my first exposure to the power of this modality to clear trauma from the mind and body. I distinctly remember my back being damp with sweat after I processed a trauma during the training. I was physically and emotionally tired, but I also felt unburdened and more hopeful. I was ready to help facilitate this healing feeling with my clients in private practice.

In this season of building more freedom professionally, I was experiencing more freedom personally by discovering trauma therapy for myself. I had already returned to therapy since graduate school, mainly to help understand my chronic depression, and trauma helped to explain much of my symptoms that were cyclical. After building up my client schedule in the group practice for most of 2010 while also receiving more relief from my traumas, I let go of part-time jobs and felt more equipped as a professional and a person to continue in my career. Private practice gave me the freedom to take care of myself more often, and I was ready to keep growing and learning.

Next time, I will share how I reached another growth edge as a therapist, entrepreneur, and person as I specialized and branched out into my private practice while also becoming a stepparent.

Twenty Years of Practice: Insights on the Journey

This May will mark twenty years since I graduated with my degree in Counseling Psychology. To integrate what I have learned in twenty years, I am writing a series of blog posts to share my journey as a counselor, psychotherapist, and healer. While most of what I will share will highlight how I have grown as a professional, I also want to emphasize that my learning coincides with my personal development as a human being. I was four months shy of my 25th birthday at the time of my graduation. I had already started my healing journey by attending therapy while in graduate school. I continued to practice what I preach by exploring many healing modalities, all while getting trained to use them professionally. I am incredibly grateful for the opportunities I have had to learn and grow as a human being and a professional counselor.

The first five years of my career found me in the field of substance abuse treatment. This was not my field of choice, but it was where I secured my graduate internship and first full-time job. I worked in both residential, intensive outpatient, and outpatient facilities in Illinois, serving adolescents, adults, and people who received a DUI. The education I received by being in hospital-based programs and state-funded facilities was invaluable for a person who grew up in conservative Christianity, where using any substance was frowned upon. My client's struggles opened my eyes to the cyclical nature of substance abuse, the systemic causes of chronic relapse, and the powerless feeling of watching people suffer despite being in treatment. I had many supervisors during my first two years in practice, all providing different types of support for a junior counselor. After those two years, I was able to sit for the state exam, which grants you the license to practice independently.

After securing my license, I was able to be a supervisor for a short period of time before falling into chronic burnout. After a period of time off, I considered leaving the counseling profession. After reconsidering, I knew I needed to be in a different setting to keep my passion for counseling alive and avoid burnout in the future. I began looking for other jobs, specifically joining a group private practice.

I am very proud of the leap of faith I took in the fall of 2008 at 29. I knew I would keep burning out if I had the demanding schedule of a traditional job, Monday through Friday, 8-5. I also knew that leaping straight into private practice was unrealistic due to having to build up a caseload. I was highly motivated to bridge some part-time jobs to help me transition from full-time work into full-time private practice.

I was already using my undiagnosed autism and neurodivergent brain to accommodate my needs for more freedom in my work schedule, to decompress, and to use lifestyle medicine to prevent burnout. My intuition and natural healing intelligence knew I needed to take professional risks to keep my passion alive. I am so grateful I listened to my inner voice and took these risks while still relatively young.

I look forward to sharing my professional bridge-building and budding entrepreneurial spirit next time!