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Why this work calls to me

I've spent much of my life following wonder. 

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Growing up by the creeks and woodlands of North Carolina, I found myself inventing little awareness games and becoming endlessly fascinated by the strange landscapes of the mind and the natural world...

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Which trees seem like friends, and which are strangers? If I listen closely enough, can I learn the language of the birds? How long can I keep my attention on breathing before I am mysteriously carried elsewhere? And where is it that I go?

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That spirit of wonder has never really left me. It continues to shape the way I move through life—the questions I ask, the paths I'm drawn toward, and the way I meet people in the therapy room. I love following the unknown with curiosity, discovering what I don't yet know, and finding joy in the creative unfolding of being alive.

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When I encountered meditation as a young adult, it felt like rediscovering something I had always known. Yet alongside moments of profound peace came waves of panic, intense pressure in my body, racing thoughts, and a feeling that I wanted to jump out of my own skin. 

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Rather than turning me away from this path, those experiences changed the questions I needed to ask. They led me beyond the mind alone and into a deeper relationship with my body, my emotions, and the protective patterns I was beginning to understand.

My curiosity has led me into communities and traditions that have each offered a different doorway into the healing realms.

 

Living and training at Great Vow Zen Monastery, and training in Unified Mindfulness has deepened my appreciation for presence and contemplative practice.

 

Studying Processwork and Voice Dialogue Parts Work has taught me to become curious about the many voices and perspectives that live within us.

 

My ongoing study of the Diamond Approach continues to nourish my love of inquiry and direct experience,

 

and ceremonial learning from the School of Lost Borders has reaffirmed the natural world as one of my greatest teachers.

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The more I learn, the less interested I become in finding the "right" method. Instead, I'm continually learning different ways of listening—to the body, to the many voices within us, to the natural world, and to the unfolding wisdom that emerges when we meet experience with genuine curiosity.

Books I Keep Returning To

  • The Unfolding Now by AH Almaas 

  • Loving Our Selves (and) Loving Each Other by Hal and Sidra Stone

  • The Kin of Ata are Waiting for you by Dorothy Bryant

  • The Eye of the Heart by Cynthia Bourgeault

  • Soul Without Shame by Byron Brown

  • The Spell of the Sensuous by David Abram 

Teachers and Mentors​

No path unfolds alone. I feel deeply grateful for the teachers, mentors, and communities whose presence and work continue to shape the way I listen, inquire, and meet the mystery of being human.​

Teachers​

James Baldwin

Susan Kosen

Tamara Yates

Chozen and Hogen Bays Roshi

Jonathan Goldman

Guiding Voices

​A. H. Almaas

Hal and Sidra Stone

Cynthia Bourgeault

Arnold and Amy Mindell

​Shinzen Young

Martin Shaw

David Abram

Education and Training

Education

  • M.A. Clinical Mental Health Counseling — University of the Cumberlands

  • B.A. Comparative Literature — Stanford University

Professional Trainings​

  • Processwork Certificate Program (current) — Process Work Institute

  • Voice Dialogue & the Psychology of Selves Practitioner Certification — Voice Dialogue Institute Seattle

  • Somatic Experiencing® Practitioner Training (Year One)

  • NeuroAffective Relational Model (NARM) — Level One

  • School of Lost Borders — Council Mirroring Training

  • The Gift of the Body Healership Training — Essential Light Institute

Contemplative Training​ & Experience

  • Residential Training, 2 years — Great Vow Zen Monastery

  • Unified Mindfulness Coach Training, Level Two

  • Meditation Teacher & Coach — Pause Meditation Studio

  • Two-Month Silent Insight Meditation Retreat — Spirit Rock Meditation Center

Current Ongoing Studies and Interests

  • Somatic Enneagram

  • Emotion Focused Therapy

  • Process Oriented Psychology

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