How I support you in your recovery
My specialty areas include numbing and medicating with substances or other means, codependency, anxiety, and families coping with developmental or behavioral challenges. I feel that everyone is worthy and deserving of recovery, and of living a fulfilled and connected life. I believe it is my role as a clinician to provide a compassionate, empathetic, and safe space to explore the roots of what is no longer serving you and step forward into your authentic truth. As a board-certified music therapist, I wholeheartedly believe in the power of music to transcend physical and psychological boundaries and facilitate healing. I feel strongly that our connection with creative and expressive arts allows us to share and process on a much deeper level than with words alone, so our sessions will often incorporate many types of expressive and experiential methods beyond standard talk therapy.
How I support you in building a relationship with self
The most important relationship to heal and grow in recovery is the one with self. Without that, we cannot have healthy relationships with anyone else. We can’t develop our relationship with self unless we are able to stay connected to our internal feelings and experiences rather than mentally checking out or staying busy to avoid feeling. I support this relationship in sessions through experiential exercises to help build awareness of feelings, understand what is creating dysregulation, and find new ways to cope with those challenges that allow us to stay grounded, connected, and present in recovery.
My Personal Recovery Journey
My own struggle with anxiety and codependency began early, rooted in dysfunctional generational patterns from my own family. I understand first-hand what it is like to feel lost, overwhelmed, and alone even in a room full of people. I have been on the other side of the therapy chair, though my first attempts at wellness were surface level. It was not until my challenges arose again as I became a wife and mother that I truly started the difficult and scary deeper work of creating and curating my own recovery, including connecting as a fellow traveler in my ACoA (Adult Children of Alcoholics and Dysfunctional Families) program.
My Experience
I am a nationally Board Certified Music Therapy, a Licensed Clinical Addiction Specialist in North Carolina, and an Advanced Alcohol and Drug Counselor in South Carolina. I provide supervision as a Certified Clinical Supervisor (CCS) in North Carolina. I am also a Certified Sound Healer and Certified Mandala Assessment Research Instrument Practitioner (Certified MARI Practitioner). I have 13 years of experience in the field in a variety of settings. I obtained my master’s degree in Music Therapy from Radford University in 2011 and joined The HC team in 2022. I obtained my undergraduate degree from Elon University in 2008 majoring in Music Performance. I am an experiential psychotherapy practitioner with training in complementary therapeutic modalities including MARI, sound healing, and NDIT. I am also an energy healer trained in Holy Fire Reiki.
More About Me
I’ve been married to my soul complement for over 10 years and I’m mama of 3 beautiful kiddos and a small animal menagerie. I am a neurodivergent adult and learning a lot now about how that has been present throughout my life and how I can better practice empathy and compassion with myself. I feel most at peace and able to ground myself near water, and music is and has always been my biggest coping skill.
— What Element Do You Resonate With? —
Water
“I am most drawn to water. It is powerful and constantly changing and evolving. It has the capacity to destroy, but also to cleanse and create space for new. Water is where I am drawn to get back to my center and find a sense of calm.”
— What’s Your Walk Out Song? —
“yellow year.” by Emmy Jo
— How To Connect —
(803) 216-1604
