Art Therapy in Wilkesboro, NC

CareNet Counseling improves the health of the mind, body, spirit and community through spiritually-integrated counseling, psychotherapy, research and education. We are here to help our clients restore and maintain mental wellness. There is no real health without mental health.

I believe that each individual has both a unique set of gifts and a world view shaped by past experiences and present circumstances. I also believe that in order to know where we are going, we need to realize how we arrived where we are in our present circumstances. Through sessions together, I will collaborate with you to assist you in recognizing your individual strengths and strive to empower you with the self-awareness and self-confidence to pursue your dreams. I take a person-centered, creative, non-judgmental approach to counseling, helping you to see how your uniquely shaded lenses of experience color your perceptions.

I am a trauma-informed therapist with over 5 years of experience helping people with anxiety, depression, trauma, and relationship issues. I enjoy learning about people and using their strengths to support their treatment goals. My mindfulness-based education greatly informs my therapeutic role. I like to combine evidenced-based practices with holistic approaches to help others enhance the quality of their lives.

Sometimes you can have it all in life except what you want more than anything: your heart's deepest desires. For some of us that can look like not having the relationship you want, the marriage you want, not having the health you want, not being able to get pregnant or not being able to have the kind of fulfilling and rewarding work that you want no matter how hard you try. That's where I can help. When working hard and doing everything right isn't working it's time to play and make miracles happen and make it fun. Are you attracted to unavailable people? Are you in an unhappy relationship? Finally get the love you deserve.

You have BIG feelings and always have. You are sensitive to your environment, tuned into the subtle nuances and energies of the people/world around you. You feel it in your gut. You sense it in your body. You were bullied, shamed, or invalidated for these feelings growing up – told you were too sensitive. You learned to doubt, squash, numb, or project those feelings onto other people and things as a way to stay safe in a world that doesn't have time for such things. You people-please, overwork, over-think, detach. You run from your feelings until they suddenly consume you. Disconnect or engulfed. You crave harmony inside and out.

It's time to get up, but the day ahead feels too overwhelming. You've missed out on so much, and you worry what will happen next and what everyone will think. You feel powerless to change, and you’re so tired of trying things that don’t work. No one understands why you can’t just move forward, and you may feel completely alone. I want you to know that you’re not crazy, and things don't have to be like this forever. My clients report a deeper level of healing as they feel more connected to their bodies, experience more ease in their daily lives, and re-discover their strength and resilience.

If you're experiencing a major life transition, thinking about making a change, or feeling unfulfilled in your daily life, seeking therapy can help. I understand that change and growth can often be uncomfortable. By working with me, you can expect a safe and understanding place to explore current and past difficulties, process emotions, and achieve holistic wellbeing. I have training in art therapy, mindfulness, meditation, and trauma-informed approaches. I offer traditional talk counseling and art therapy to teens and adults experiencing life transitions, grief and loss, trauma, anxiety, and self-esteem issues.

I offer individual, family and group therapy. I specialize in using dance and drama therapy with individuals struggling with abuse, developmental/physical limitations, trauma and substance abuse. I offer a free telephone consultation. Each session has the opportunity to "move" instead of "sit" giving a chance to express feelings and emotions though your body. Achieving healing with mind and body. I can help those that have not had success with traditional therapies. During COVID-19 I will offer sessions on Zoom.

My passion is helping people through life change, career transition, grief and loss, relationship conflict, health and wellness change, life goals, addiction and recovery, employee conflict and finding purpose and meaning in your life path. I have written and published several self-help books to help motivate and inspire people. I am licensed in the states of Arizona, North Carolina and Wisconsin.

Welcome! Counseling offers a safe, nonjudgmental, space for exploring the psyche, finding meaning in challenging life events, and experiencing a sense of hope. The counseling process can be creative and exciting, and at times, it can be difficult. I seek to be open, supportive, curious, and responsive to my clients as they navigate their journey. I lean toward a psychodynamic psychotherapy model, exploring how our attachment styles, family stories, coping mechanisms, and unconscious layers of thoughts and feelings influence our present day life.

I work with humans on feeling more fully into their own experience and allowing space for those in their life to do the same especially through what might seem like the most difficult and painful impasses. These difficulties may include identity, sexual orientation, grief, infidelity, attachment injuries, chronic conditions, addiction, or trauma. I work with families, partnerships, and people of ALL makeups from the most diverse to the most traditional.

I invite you to utilize my over 30 years of mental health/addictions education and experience, empowering you with highly effective and enduring therapy, resolving long term and recent issues that block your happiness and success. Adults, youths, couples and whole families are carefully taught needed skills and facilitated actual healing processes, step by step, to remedy thought distortions, repressed feelings and dysfunctional behaviors and attitudes that impair your relationships, socialization, work or school success. Treatment is customized in consideration of individual schedules, preferences, strengths, obstacles and goals for lasting growth and change. Christian counseling is available upon request.

I have an avid interest in helping children, adults, and families dealing with special needs, including Autism Spectrum Disorder, mental and/or physical challenges, and Academically Gifted and Talented. I also specialize in supporting clients and families coping with chronic and/or serious illnesses. Siblings, who are often overlooked in these families, are of special concern to me. Depression, anxiety and grief and loss issues due to death, divorce and other life changes hold a special interest for me as well.

Many of us are stuck in a pattern of resisting and pushing away, living in reaction mode instead of proactive mode, which leaves us unfulfilled and exhausted. Self expression promotes the release of emotional tension so that we can be less reactive and more responsive in our lives. When we allow difficult feelings to emerge through images, we are able to gain awareness on the root of those problems. Awareness opens the doorway for change to occur. Allow me to guide you through creative exploration to help you move through every day challenges with more ease, patience, self-awareness and in the full expression of who you truly are.

I love to see anyone across the lifespan. If you enjoy creating a space for yourself to heal, grow, and recover from the mental health symptoms you are experiencing in a safe, trusting space, you will fit right in here. Whether you are managing panic attacks, emotional outbursts, past experiences, or feel completely overwhelmed, we can work together to overcome the obstacles in your way. I've spent the past few years working with anxiety, depression, trauma, neurodiversity, postpartum health, and stressful life circumstances.