Licensed Clinical Marriage & Family Therapist
Certified Health Coach
I grew up in California and spent my growing up years traveling between California and Hawaii, which instilled the desire for an active lifestyle. After graduating high school I became a Cosmetologist and relocated to Wichita, Kansas following my family’s move. Kansas offered new challenges to maintaining a year-round active lifestyle with different weather patterns and geography; so a gym and home workouts became essential. I was a single mom for ten years and during that time I made a decision to change fields and went back to school. 20-plus years ago I met and married Jeff and we blended our families, which now includes: 4 adult children with partners, 4 grandchildren, and 1 English Bulldog named Clark. A few years into this blending process I made another career decision that required several years of balancing a master's program, work, marriage, and family; after which I entered the mental health field as a psychotherapist.
Though I had always valued exercise and nutrition as it was always the best way to manage my stressors and stay healthy; it has been in my work as a psychotherapist that I more fully understood the deep impact intentional exercise, quality sleep, and sound nutrition has on mental health and total wellness. In addition to being a Licensed Clinical Marriage & Family Therapist, I am a Certified Health Coach with additional education in Fitness Nutrition and Integrative Nutrition in Mental Health.
Through my own health struggles that were out of my control, I realized the negative impact self-judgment and life's stressors have on day-to-day functioning. My hope is to help instill in others the understanding and compassion that there is “no wrong way to have a body (see here)” and to discover the power of finding their “why” in order to live their fullest life.
Through my own health obstacles, I have felt the negative impact self-judgment and life's stressors have on day-to-day functioning. My hope is to help instill in others the understanding and compassion that there is “no wrong way to have a body (see here)” and to discover the power of finding their “why” in order to live their fullest life.
