The late-night phone calls started young.
I was always the one people ended up talking to—at the kitchen table, over a coffee, or on the other end of a call that started with "I know it's late, but." Not because I had answers. Because I actually wanted to sit in it with them, and somehow they could tell.
That's the whole reason Human Development and Family Studies became my field, both for undergrad and graduate school, and why I kept adding to it over the years with extensive coursework in Marriage and Family Therapy. I spent years at the University of Alabama teaching and building programs—but the real work, the work I couldn't stay away from, happened in the hours I spent one-on-one with students and staff, helping them find clarity and confidence.
My own "clarity" has taken a long time
I've had long seasons of relational struggle of my own—the kind that don't resolve in a tidy paragraph. I've pursued "emotional health" for most of my adult life. I've also carried a deep faith that has, at different points, been genuinely wounded by the church and by people inside it.
I tell you this because I'm not offering you a view from above. I'm offering you someone who has actually sat where you're sitting—with the confusion, the false starts, the faith that gets complicated, the wanting to be known and the fear of what happens if you are.
When I retired, I had a new set of questions to answer. After decades in academia, I knew I wasn't done. I still wanted to be useful, still wanted to be in a room—real or virtual—with someone trying to figure their life out. I just didn't know what that would look like yet.
While I was exploring my options, I ended up in a life consulting course, and later, in a working relationship with the consultant who hosted it.
And for the first time in a long time, I was the one being cared for.
I was heard. Patterns I'd carried my whole life—quietly, invisibly—were finally named out loud. I moved through that process with more clarity and confidence than I expected. It wasn't just a good experience. It was a door opening.
I realized two things at once: this work had genuinely changed something in me, and it was exactly what I wanted to spend my next chapter doing for other people.
What my clients say...
People who've spent time with me describe it this way. They say they:
- Feel truly heard and seen, often for the first time in a long time
- Start to understand how the experiences and patterns of their past have quietly shaped their present
- Recognize parts of themselves they hadn't noticed before
- Leave feeling strongly encouraged, not judged
- Gain real clarity about the path in front of them
- Move forward with a confidence they didn't have walking in
What I want for you.
I'd love to offer you a warm, empathic, safe place to bring your real questions, insecurities, and fears—the ones you might not say out loud anywhere else.
Together, we can look honestly at where you feel stuck, and where there might be "more" waiting for you. I can offer clarity and objectivity—a kind of gentle uncovering—to help surface what's really going on, shed some light on it, and help you move forward from it.
You don't have to have it all figured out. That's what this space is for.
