In 2023, I became a certified Forest Therapy Guide through the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy Guides (ANFT) and began guiding walks in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in partnership with the Parks Conservancy, Penn Forest Natural Burial Park, and other organizations. Afterward, I also studied as a Master Naturalist and spent a couple years teaching environmental education.

I grew up spending much of my time outdoors and always felt an intuitive sense of ease in nature. As childhood gave way to adulthood, that relationship gradually faded. Years later, I began cycling for transportation, and through the simple act of moving through the landscape at a slower pace, I found myself reconnecting with nature, my body, and the seasons in a different way.

Meditation also became an important part of my life. During long retreats, my favorite moments were often those spent outside. We were invited to wander quietly after periods of sitting, instructed to follow a birdsong, notice the movement of light through the trees, or wander where we felt most compelled to go. I remember standing beneath a great oak one spring as a gust of wind moved through its branches. Because I had been asked to listen, I heard it differently. It heard it not as a background noise, but as something like a song, full of depth and resonance. That experience sparked a lasting curiosity about the relationship between contemplative practice and the natural world. Years later, I discovered shinrin-yoku, or forest bathing, and found a practice that brought these interests together.

I've spent much of my adult life studying psychology and working alongside people, both professionally and as a parent of two. For many years I worked as a peer support specialist and program supervisor, supporting people experiencing psychological distress as they built meaningful lives on their own terms.

My interests have long centered on depth psychology, embodied approaches, contemplative practice, and liberatory perspectives. I've also been a lifelong dreamer. I remember dreams vividly. Over the past several years I've engaged in ongoing dreamwork, both personally and through formal study. For me, dreams offer a creative and contemplative practice that invites us into relationship with the deeper layers of ourselves. They can illuminate inner conflicts, reveal unexpected strengths, deepen self-understanding, and open us to dimensions of experience that are larger than the individual self.

These days, I guide monthly forest therapy walks in Pittsburgh and facilitate dreamwork with individuals and (in the future!) groups. I am currently completing a certificate in embodied experiential dreamwork and entering the final year of my MSW, where I will be interning as a graduate clinician.

I believe that healing is less about fixing ourselves than about entering into a deeper relationship with psyche, body, place, and the living world. I am continually drawn to practices that cultivate imagination, reciprocity, and a sense of belonging within the larger web of life.