I am a Durham-based psychotherapist and addictions specialist licensed in North Carolina and Colorado . I work with individuals confronting relationship issues, life transitions, existential questions, and grief. I am open to connection with many types of clients, but I specialize, research, and write about therapeutic work with men. For more on my work, please see "My Approach" and "Areas of Focus" .
I began clinical work in residential treatment for adolescent boys in a group facility in 2012 and as a crisis counselor and court advocate at a crisis center in Denver. In 2014, I moved to North Carolina, where I earned my PhD in sociology. During the course of my doctoral research, I became interested in men's experience of gender and class and saw a need for care for that population.
I received my master's in counseling soon after my PhD, during which time I completed a clinical internship in adult intensive outpatient substance use treatment in Raleigh and individual psychotherapy in Denver. I trained in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy at SouthLight healthcare and UNC-Chapel Hill in 2020.
I am a lifelong student and seek to better understand and reduce suffering in the world around us. I remain engaged with research, writing, and theory to better serve others and improve the practice of mental healthcare by developing alternatives to medication, institutionalization, and the third-party payer system. I am a member of the American Philosophical Practitioners Association and the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science.
Beyond session with clients, I am committed to my community and the network of individuals that make Durham my home. I do personal work on meaning and attachment and engage with philosophical thought, Spanish language, nature, writing workshops, physical activity in the outdoors, and art/music.
"Therapy isn't curing somebody of something; it is a means of helping a person explore himself, his life, his consciousness." - Rollo May