I’ll be honest. It has cost me a lot to be here—and I know it cost you something to be here, too. The therapeutic work I do with clients has been shaped and refined inside the fiery crucible of a many decades’ long personal journey through severe complex trauma, PTSD, major depression, OCD, anxiety disorder, and spiritual dark nights of the soul. For the past 25 years (following a mystical experience when I was 17), I have been exploring the intersections and entanglements between mental health, spirituality, neurobiology, and trauma for personal and professional reasons. The deep dives I have taken into the dark particularities of my own story, psyche, and soma—and the debilitating mental and emotional challenges I have faced—have initiated me into becoming a wounded healer.

There are lots of average therapists out there. I know because I have encountered dozens of them on my journey through debilitating mental health challenges. Each one did their best, but none were particularly helpful. Why? Some of them simply were not a good fit for me (research indicates 80% of therapeutic change is directly related to the client-therapist relationship). Others used approaches and modalities that fell flat and were ineffective. And others clearly had not done their own inner work—they could not take me where they themselves had not gone. ​Finding a therapist who has committed themselves to doing their own healing work and embodies it in their relationship with you is vital. A few more thoughts as you seek a practitioner: a chasm of consciousness separates helpers from healers. For some, being a therapist, counselor or coach is a simply a job. For others, it is a soul calling that cannot be ignored—and that calling has required years and often decades of deep, challenging inner work.

It is essential to have map that accurately portrays the clinical landscape (the theory, science, and research that inform the methods, techniques, and tools used). But what happens when the map you’re given doesn’t match the territory you’re in? And happens when the guide you’re with doesn’t know the territory you’re journeying through together? In both instances, you end up lost, confused, and perhaps hopeless. An accurate map is essential. Yet, a map alone isn't enough. A guide who knows the terrain is also essential. If you were trekking deep into the Amazon rain forest, you would want a guide who intimately knew the region. An accurate map and an experienced guide are necessary for deep, lasting therapeutic change and healing to occur.

My approach is highly integrative, weaving somatic therapy, Internal Family Systems (IFS), Polyvagal Theory, attachment science, interpersonal neurobiology, depth psychology, relational psychodynamics, and spirituality. Part of my gift is the ability to seamlessly move between the medical and the mystical, the clinical and contemplative, the phenomenological and the neurobiological, the somatic and the spiritual. I have a MA in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, MA in Theology & Culture (The Seattle School of Theology & Psychology), a Post-Graduate Diploma in Humanitarian Assistance (Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine) and a BS (University of Vermont). I completed a certificate in Spiritual Direction, a certificate in Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy, and have received training in Internal Family Systems (IFS), Integrative Somatic Parts Work, Polyvagal Theory, interpersonal neurobiology, somatic psychotherapy, psychodynamic therapy, narrative therapy, group ketamine therapy, psychedelic integration, and more.

My first career was in international relief & development which took me to live in fifteen cities on five continents. I currently live in Holland, MI with my wife and 4 year old triplets. When not in the therapy office, I can be found surfing, sailing, stand up paddleboarding, or skiing.