MY FOUNDATIONAL VIEWS

LOVING KINDNESS

My training in contemplative practice & psychotherapy was focused on Maitri (Tibetan Buddhism), which can be translated as "making friends with oneself. Having gentleness, kindness, friendliness and warmth towards oneself & others." Sometimes we are not very skilled at being gentle & kind to ourselves. Often the opposite is the norm, which results in an endless barrage of self-aggressive thoughts riddled with "shoulds." It's impossible to connect to our life from this place of self-judgement. We can't fake it. Loving ourselves is not fluffy, unimportant stuff. It is the most essential ingredient to living a life of purpose & connection.

REDUCING ANXIETY & STRESS

All of us have fear, whether it be emotionally-based or survival instinct that has become overwhelming, flooding our body with anxiety & panic attacks. Many of us have in many ways told ourselves a story that we should not be or feel a certain way, which causes conflict & stress in the body & mind. Perhaps we would like to move to a place in our life where fear does not hold us back? Together, we work with mindfulness techniques & body-centered practices to regulate fear & anxiety as well as recognizing the thoughts that fuel fears.  The nervous system can be retuned & retrained to address dysregulation, anxiety & panic attacks as well as depressed or frozen nervous systems.

EMPOWERMENT & PERSONAL GROWTH

Empowerment means that we trust ourself to know how to align with our intuition as well as know when our body is saying "NO" or "YES"....& to act in alignment with that truth & trust in ourself. My practice is client-centered, meaning the client decides what they want to work on. Personal growth happens when we collaborate based on client goals combined with my insight of what I'm seeing and hearing from my client. ​

HEALTHY BOUNDARIES

Boundaries are extremely important & impact every area of our life. Let's reaffirm healthy boundaries & what it means to "clean up" already damaged boundaries in our relationships to others & our relationship to ourself. Clear boundaries help our nervous system relax & feel safe.

EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE

If emotional intelligence is not modeled for us as we develop & grow we simply do not learn how to clearly name how we feel. We may assume that some emotions are unacceptable to others around us & begin to suppress our feelings. Emotional intelligence begins with knowing how to identify feelings & to learn to attune to ourself.

MINDFULNESS & EMBODIMENT

Mindfulness has become a commonly used term that in some ways has become watered-down due to overly broad use. From my point of view, Mindfulness is our effort to turn our attention & awareness to the present moment in an intentional way. This includes mindfulness of what our thoughts & mind are doing, but we can go further & use mindfulness to work with body, breath, movement & posture. Combining mindfulness of body & mind can create what we call an "embodied" way of being. Being present within our body creates a higher potential for healing trauma & increasing quality of our relationships overall.

A VIEW OF TRAUMA

Some categories of trauma are obvious & some are not.  My view of trauma is that most of us have some level of trauma with widely varying degrees of impact on our daily lives, relationships & over-all emotional functioning. Bringing awareness & attention to trauma is the first step to resolving & freeing the body.  My "bottom-up" or body before thoughts approach & simple nervous system regulation techniques help move at the pace of the body.

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My Education
Master's Degree Naropa University
Contemplative Psychotherapy & Buddhist Psychology-2013
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Bachelor’s Degree University of Missouri
English, Creative Writing – 2000 

My Licensing
LPC-Licensed Professional Counselor State of Colorado
A Licensed Professional Counselor must hold a Masters’ degree in their
profession and be supervised for two years post-Masters’ degree
​plus 2,000 hours clinical experience as well as passing a National Licensing Exam

My Special Training
Safe & Sound Protocol Certification - 2020
Level One Training Sensorimotor Psychotherapy - 2019
Reiki I and II with Susan Chiocchi – 2016
1 Year Externship with Boulder & Bridge Center for Play Therapy – 2015
1 Year Internship with TRU Community Hospice – 2013
9 Years working in the Windhorse Approach * End-of-Life care - 2011 to 2020
2 Year Apprenticeship in Shamanic Arts with Ancient Ways Center – 2005
1 Year Astrology Apprenticeship with Quan Tracy Cherry – 1999

My Personal Practices
Tai Chi & Qi Gong
Body-Centered Buddhist Meditation
5Rhythms Movement/Dance
​Somatic Groundwork

If you were wondering, let me address my last name...no, it's not Greek!  It's Lithuanian.  I'm from rural Missouri, which informs a great respect & love of nature.  In 2000 I moved to Boulder, Colorado where I attended Naropa University & received my Master's in Contemplative Psychotherapy & Buddhist Studies.  I worked in Contemplative end-of-life care where I developed Dementia education & supervised teams of care staff before committing the lion's share of my time to seeing psychotherapy & play therapy clients in 2017.  My desire to serve others continues to evolve as I steadily transition into focusing my practice to the needs of the Highly Sensitive Person.  

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