I am grateful for what I have in my life

An increased and embodied capacity for nervous system regulation. 

A well of self-compassion and deep self-regard, even when I’m messy, imperfect, and utterly human. (Especially then). 

A healthy dialogue with my inner critic who no longer runs the (internal) show.

Feeling fully resourced with tools and techniques I can use to soothe, support, and recalibrate when life gets challenging (which is often!).

I grew up feeling like I had to live a double life – not like the cool and benevolent “Mrs. Doubtfire”- more like the sinister and clandestine kind cultivated out of abuse. My childhood was complex and confusing. I got pregnant in high school, married my high school sweetheart, and we maneuvered a winding path of young parenthood, him with his issues, me with my internal residue from my childhood, our separation and divorce, reconciliation, and separation again. I didn’t have positive role models for how to take good care of myself, let alone my daughters. I had few tools to process the shame and guilt I carried from my perceived failures and the gaslighting I had encountered throughout my growing up and the relationships that followed. My inner critic was raging, my self-worth was abysmal, and I was struggling with severe depression, anxiety, and hopelessness.

In elementary school, I was tasked with writing an essay on who I wanted to be when I grew up. I intuitively knew that I wanted to be a neurosurgeon so I could, “rewire bad people’s brains.” Later, as I traveled my path of young parenthood, I quickly realized that I could not afford medical school. Instead, I enrolled in nursing school with a deepened desire to help others like me “rewire their brains” without invasive surgery.

After working as a nurse for many years, I became disillusioned with the system, which did not give me the time or resources needed to effectively support others on their healing path. My own commitment to the life-long journey of healing brought me to expand my work as a nurse practitioner and propelled my exploration of creative healing modalities. I was able to weave powerful connections between my mental and physical wellbeing, engage somatic tools that helped release shame and guilt from my brain and body, move from subconscious into conscious awareness, and commit to practices that supported powerful mindset shifts and habit change.

The ways I’ve been able to grow and evolve, to forgive myself, to nourish my body, and to root into purpose and presence have truly transformed my life.

I feel most alive and aligned when I am partnering with women through their own healing journeys. When I can serve as a channel for collective consciousness, supporting people to access their innate wisdom. When I am sitting with clients as they arrive at their own epiphanies and begin to implement radical and real changes in their habits that catalyze integrated body-mind healing.

It brings me immense fulfillment to witness women become aware of their own capacity and begin to trust their inner wisdom. Because when they do ((when you do — when I do — when we do)), everything changes.

StoryBrook Healing Arts is named for the power of story (and our agency in writing and reclaiming our own narratives) and the calming yet mighty capacity of a brook (so different from a river or an ocean — slow, steady, and yet sovereign).