Healing Arts Therapy PDX​

Many of my clients have spent years disconnecting from themselves in order to cope, survive, or meet the expectations of others. I work with adolescents and adults navigating anxiety, eating disorders, body dysphoria, trauma, identity exploration, life transitions, and emotional overwhelm. I have a particular passion for supporting queer, transgender, nonbinary, gender-diverse, neurodivergent, and highly sensitive individuals as they build a more authentic relationship with themselves. As a dance/movement therapist, I integrate talk therapy with body awareness, mindfulness, movement, and creative expression. My approach is trauma-informed, collaborative, and affirming, helping clients develop self-understanding, build self-trust, and feel more grounded in their bodies, identities, and daily lives. Starting therapy can feel vulnerable, especially if you've spent years carrying things alone or feeling disconnected from yourself. You do not need to have everything figured out to begin. I strive to create a space where clients feel seen, supported, and empowered to explore who they are with curiosity, compassion, and authenticity.

I know what it’s like to move through the world shaped by expectations that were never really mine. I grew up in a culture where “family first” meant self-abandonment, where obedience was praised over authenticity, and where boundaries were treated as betrayal. For a long time, I believed that being “good” meant keeping everyone else comfortable—even at the cost of myself. It wasn’t until later in my life I first heard the phrase people pleaser and realized it wasn’t a compliment. It was a survival strategy. One that helped me stay safe, stay connected, and stay accepted… but also one that slowly disconnected me from my own needs, voice, and identity. Over the years, through relationships that stretched me thin, friendships that fed on my kindness, and a family tragedy that broke me open, I found myself standing in front of the mirror asking the question no one had ever invited me to ask: What do I want? And why does choosing myself feel so dangerous? That moment began a long, tender process of waking up. Waking up to my own boundaries. Waking up to the parts of me I had learned to quiet. Waking up to the truth that I didn’t have to earn belonging. Waking up to the possibility of being fully, imperfectly human. My healing hasn’t been linear. It has been seasons of reclaiming—learning how to soften without collapsing, how to be kind without losing myself, and how to feel safe being fully me in the presence of others. Today, I walk beside people who know these patterns intimately: the people pleasers, cycle breakers, therapists, and those healing from religious trauma or spiritual conditioning. My work is about helping you reconnect with your own inner compass, rewrite the invisible rules you inherited, and come home to a life that feels grounded, honest, and fully yours. You don’t have to abandon who you are to be loved. You don’t have to shrink to be safe. You get to take up space—your own way, in your own time. If you're ready to wake up to yourself with gentleness, courage, and a little wildness, I’d be honored to walk with you.