A little about Stephanie...
How my lifepath led me to you
I grew up in a dysfunctional family myself learning rules like “don’t talk, don’t trust, don’t feel.” While staying with my grandmother one summer, I ended up in a therapist's office after a traumatic event. While I don’t recall specifics of my interactions with that therapist, but I do remember how she helped me ~ that it was not my fault, that I was loved and I was enough. Since that time, I knew that I wanted to be able to share that with other people who were hurting. Every time I’ve returned to therapy, I am able to move further along on my journey whenever I feel stuck or have a story that needs to be told myself.
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I studied Family Relations and Child Development at Oklahoma State University where I had a hippie social worker as an instructor during my senior year. There is where I heard my calling. I later received my Master of Social Work at the University of Tennessee and have
been traveling my perfectly imperfect lifepath ever since.
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I have spent my career with a servant’s heart to bring people hope, no matter what the issue or how deep the pain they are facing. I am committed to providing you
with the tools you need to live life as you want it, to no longer live in bondage to past hurts or present fears,
and to use these experiences as building blocks for a
bright future.
I work to build a genuine and authentic connections with the individuals, couples and families through the lifespan and across diverse communities. I’ve been where you are. I acknowledge that therapy is not always fun, yet more often than not, can testify that it is worth it. I show up to sessions open and authentic (in all my awkward glory) with the purpose of creating a validating place to be who you are. Everyone has a different story, a different experience, and different goals. What I’ve witnessed in others and myself is when we begin to honor ourselves, our needs and their feelings, we are then free to learn the things we need in order to live a life worth living.
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As a seasoned clinician, I have worked in a variety of settings over the last 30 years. From inpatient to residential with wilderness settings, along with integrated outpatient clinics and school-based programs that have allowed me to experience a wealth of different treatment perspectives that I can incorporate into working with my clients. They include Family Systems, Cognitive Behavioral, Play Therapy, Experiential Therapy, Faith-Based Counseling, Mindfulness and Dialectical Behavior Therapy.