I am a writer, journalist, and Creative Writing for Therapeutic Purposes (CWTP) MSc candidate building a new business around my passion for the written word and a drive to put something helpful into the world.
I want to help others gain confidence in their voice, to rethink old narratives, to heal. (more about that below).
believing in the power of stories to connect and heal ourselves and our communities
CWTP uses many creative writing techniques, such as poetic form, fictional dialogue, and reflection, to examine inner narratives so that we might find clarity, self-expression, the confidence to connect with who we are in the muddle of the nature-nurture influences of everything around us so that we might ease suffering, release stress, experience joy and confidence in our creativity.
The theoretical underpinnings of CWTP include humanistic and person-centered psychology, which basically means that a person is a whole being who can grow to reach their potential when given ample space and support.
It is also a mind-body practice, recognizing the wisdom of the felt sense, a sense of connection with what feels right in the body, not just in thoughts.
CWTP recognizes the need for practitioners to be reflective and reflexive, recognizing where a facilitator or researcher’s position in life and society and identity may influence actions, thoughts and behaviors.
CWTP facilitators work closely with participants to establish ways of working together to create a safe-enough space for participants in group settings or in one-to-one sessions so that participants may feel supported while exploring stories that may touch on deeply felt and emotionally sensitive topics.
CWTP is not a magic cure, though magic often finds its way in the more one practices.
CWTP is not an easy or simple road. It is work. It is sometimes very difficult work.
I see it as a journey, an inner nature journey to which I hope to be a guide.
There are many small steps you can take, if you feel ready, to begin meeting that your own inner environment, your voice, stories in your head, feelings in your body that influence your ability to make choices for your life.
I share writing prompts and resources on this website and you can also find more on my Instagram page linked below. You can sign up for my newsletter to receive monthly essays in your inbox, sign up for 1:1 sessions with me, or contact me for information about group training sessions and workshops.
I’m the oldest of three born to a pipefitter dad and stay-at-home mom in Michigan.
I was one of those kids, writing stories and poems and hoping that tests were essay rather than multiple choice. I hate multiple choice! And I was one of those kids who cried when she didn’t get an A.
Band kid (flute and trumpet). Saved pennies for two years waiting tables at the BINGO hall (you have to sling a lot of egg salad sandwiches) to go to Space Camp.
The dream to fly planes was dashed when I learned I couldn’t fly for the Navy because I also was a girl who wore glasses.
I thought band, which had been the closest I felt to being part of something bigger than myself, would be the way forward. That takes us to …
I tried music school. Switched majors.
I tried biology, took home a degree, though between you, me, and the bots, I would not be surprised to learn that the university hemmed and hawed about my deserving of that honor.
Somewhere toward the end of that college ride, I realized I did not relate to the kids who were excited about spending their time in the lab. I took some time to think, to feel deeply, what it was that I connected with.
I kept coming back to writing. Despite the books I’d buried myself in (Thank you library summer reading challenges!) and the hobbies of scribbling out fiction and poetry and essays in diaries, somehow I hadn’t connected that human people wrote those books. It never dawned on me that I could be a writer.
My guidance counselor advised me to consider journalism, so I spent a year with the university newspaper despite it being too late to change my major … again.
After graduation, I took a job at a bank and got lost in spreadsheets (and some tumultuous early-adulthood life drama) for a few years. Eventually, I realized I needed to make a massive life change.
I went back to school part time while working at a bank, received my second bachelors in communications and after graduation and bank layoffs, I got my masters in journalism. I worked for a while in newspapers until a move to Switzerland where I dabbled in freelance writing and pumped time and energy into more creative projects.
Like a lot of people during the pandemic, I began to crave a new direction. I wanted to do something more meaningful, something that more directly helped people to live their lives.
And that’s when I learned about this work, Creative Writing for Therapeutic Purposes. I embarked on this three-year journey culminating in the completion of my dissertation in the fall of 2025.
My research examined a favorite pastime of mine: Overthinking! I explored inner dialogue and overthinking thoughts using two writing techniques:
informed by two highly effective (for me) therapeutic processes: Eugene Gendlin’s focusing, and Richard Schwartz’s Internal Family Systems model of therapy.
My aim, now, is to teach and guide those who wish to embark on a journey of discovery and growth through this powerful method.
