Someone once told me I have a PhD in trauma. It was such an out of pocket thing for someone to say I sat with it for days deciding how I felt about it. It was a backhanded compliment, and it was the dark truth. Statistically speaking, I should be a lot of things. The thing with statistics that has always fascinated me is...the other side. The % we don't talk about-I am that.

Against all odds, I am here today still standing. My childhood is too long to share in a small bio box and would probably break your heart to read. My professional life has always lead me to those who have a story to tell but don't always make it easy to listen. I am a behavior specialist and run a classroom based district program for students who struggle the most.

I have spent years being trained, getting certified, putting into play, and being my own best student of said work. I have unpacked and helped others to do the same. I've seen things like therapy and bodywork do amazing things in my life and the lives of others. I have also seen and been left with what gets left behind...grief.

I remember telling a therapist once "I think I'm done here." She agreed with me, but in my soul I knew the work was not "complete." I spent years and years learning and doing more to learn about trauma and how to unpack it to move forward. I began to wonder if it would ever really be over? I love learning and my head knew everything intellectually that I felt like I could, yet there was still crumbs to be swept from my space. Things, still taking up residence that traditional ways just weren't connecting for me. The longer I do my professional work the more I see this to be true. Insert GRM.

I didn't have words to articulate what it was I saw being needed in the space of grief.. While my head is confident in the intellectual truths about the "bad things" that have happened in my own life and the lives of those I have worked with my heart was what was hurting. GRM is the heart work. The process we will work through together builds a bridge from our brains to our hearts and THAT is what has been missing.

Personally, I am an avid reader, very Type A- (becoming a mom helped humble me here), a runner, foul mouthed, quick witted, soft hearted, and strong headed. Sparkly gold glittery things have my heart. A student once described be as a "pink battleship-pretty but tough." I love memes and talk really fast. I am a recovering "gifted" kid who sees the world a little bit different. My husband is the biggest pain in my butt and also hangs snowflake lights in the rain and dark because he knows it makes me happy-I'm not always sure I deserve him.

I live with my husband, two little boys who have taught me more about life than I could ever dream of teaching them, two chocolate labs I have a very love hate relationship with, and a rescue cat named Sox. We live in Liberty Lake WA, love the PNW, are crazy Seahawks fans, and a part of my heart will always be in Alaska where we lived for nine years.