Born and raised in Washington, I was the first in my family to attend college. In 2006 I earned my Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology with minors in Business Administration and English from Western Washington University in Bellingham. A week after my graduation I was hired as a Psychiatric Technician at a 16-bed psychiatric hospital and have worked in the field ever since. After learning more about psychiatry I decided I wanted to advance my education and specifically become a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner. 

 

I moved to Portland in 2008 just 3 days before President Obama’s election and started my undergraduate Nursing program at Oregon Health & Science University in 2009. After completing that program in 2010 I started my graduate studies also at OHSU, electing to earn both my Master of Nursing and Doctor of Nursing Practice degrees. My work as a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner began with the Older Adults program at Lifeworks NW in Portland. After a year with that program I moved to Rhode Island to work in a hospital psychiatric unit for older adults. Circumstances brought me back to Oregon a year later, where I landed on the coast in Astoria for nearly 2 years before choosing to relocate to Bend in 2016 specifically to work with Mosaic Medical. 

 

At the four-year mark I elected to leave Mosaic but stay in Bend and start this private practice. Having my own practice allows me to run things exactly as I feel is best and without compromise. I’m proud to be a small business owner and to have this new experience, and I’m blessed with my extended set of personal and professional relationships in Central Oregon. 

 

Professionally, I serve both the state and a treasured community of colleagues as a public member on the Oregon Board of Psychology. I’ve also joined SERV-OR, the state’s volunteer emergency medical response organization, and am starting my investment in additional volunteer work with the American Red Cross. 

 

At home in Bend, I’m painstakingly restoring the 1974 BMW I drove through graduate school, and when I need a break from that, I tend to stay in the garage doing woodworking or advancing my welding techniques. As a Pacific Northwest native, I genuinely enjoy immersion in our outdoors with hikes, backpacking trips with my brother, off-roading in my Tacoma, and snowshoeing in the winter.

 

My approach is professional, firmly rooted in a quality education from a nation-leading brick-and-mortar institution, and informed by evidence-based practices. However, each interaction is also undeniably informed by my own life experiences. I share all this about myself because I believe it is important to have some sense of the person you may choose to trust with your life story and vulnerabilities. 

 

I invite you to Contact Me for a no-obligation phone call for 10-15 minutes with me to further discuss your needs and answer any questions you have for or about me that you feel would help you determine if we would be a good fit.