I'm a licensed marriage and family therapist with an MBA and nearly two decades in practice. But before any of that, I was a security guard. Later I became the CEO of a youth arts organization. I've worn a lot of hats: Manager, Vice President, CEO, and I understand the strain that comes with carrying difficult responsibilities, because I've carried them myself. Before private practice, I managed teams at Kaiser Permanente and served as VP of a social services agency. That gave me a front-row seat to how the traditional mental health system actually works, and where it falls short. I've seen big hospitals and insurance companies treat people like members on a caseload instead of human beings. I watched good treatment get reduced to a formula, because the system was built around saving money, not around understanding the person in front of you. I left that system to build something different: therapy that treats you as a whole person, not a diagnosis. My approach blends clinical training with a deep understanding of the body, the nervous system, and the spiritual dimension of healing, including training in ketamine-assisted psychotherapy and a certification in psychedelic studies through CIIS. I've also trained as a shamanic practitioner in Andean cosmology, studying under a teacher in that lineage for years. I also have ADHD. I'm not theorizing about what it's like to feel like your brain works against you. I've lived it, and I've built my career around understanding it, both in myself and in the clients who sit across from me. Here's what I want you to know about working with me: I don't believe therapy has to be heavy all the time. Some of the best sessions I have with clients are ones where we're laughing, where it feels more like a real conversation between two people who care, less like a clinical appointment. I kick a few sacred cows along the way. I'm direct. I don't give up on people easily. And I bring a kind of life experience to this work that most therapists simply don't have: I've been a competitive athlete, a musician, I've lived in cities and small towns, I've built and lost things, and I've rebuilt. Whatever you've been through, there's a good chance I understand some piece of it firsthand. I host the Mindful Mutiny podcast and wrote the book There Is More. Everything I do is guided by one philosophy: Take Out the Trash. Bring in the Light.