My Training and Credentials
For Potential Clients
I am a doctor of clinical psychology working towards getting licensed as a psychologist. Throughout my career I have focused on acquiring training in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). I have provided this model of treatment to a variety of people in a variety of settings. Some of my clients have been people struggling with the day-to-day challenges of life, such as relationship problems, stress, self-esteem issues, and confusion about life goals. Other clients have faced more serious psychological problems, such as major depression, substance abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder, and psychosis. I have extensive experience in working with individuals as well as conducting group sessions, and have practiced ACT in counseling centers, hospitals, and now a private clinic.
No matter what the difficulty or circumstances, I am always interested in getting to know the perfect human being who is frequently oppressed and hidden by their psychological turmoil. I always believe that extraordinary things are possible, and I commit to being a resource for my clients in respect to what they find vitally important in life.
For Students and Professionals
I received a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Mississippi in the summer of 2008. My internship was at the VA Medical Center in Togus, Maine. I was supervised through graduate school by Kelly Wilson, one of the developers of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), and co-author of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: An Experiential Approach to Behavior Change. I was supervised on internship by Kevin Polk, Jerold Hambright, and John Agee, co-creators of “Radical ACT”, an elegantly simplified version of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Training. Now I am a postdoctoral resident at the Portland Psychotherapy Clinic, Research, and Training Center, PC, in Portland, Oregon. My current supervisors are Jason Luoma and Jenna LeJeune, both experienced ACT therapists and researchers.
Throughout these years I have been interested in the basic components which underlie all effective therapeutic processes of change (especially those leveraged by ACT treatment). I am also invested in understanding these processes at the basic theoretical level, and so have been involved in numerous research projects on Relational Frame Theory (RFT). I am as enthusiastic about sharing this work as I am in investigating and understanding it, and so have attended and co-facilitated a growing number of workshops on ACT and RFT. In addition to working as an ACT therapist, I also offer consultation and workshops for students and professionals who share my interests.
See my workshops page for the latest information on any upcoming training events that I am providing.