Welcome back! I wanted to dedicate my first blog post to my passion, therapy, and how I ended up here. A lot of my clients inquire as to why I became a therapist, which is a fair question to ask. Here I am, a complete stranger, asking you all the questions. My relationship with therapy started off as a love/hate relationship and grew into an obsession, a passion, a career. Taking you back a bit, as a young person growing up, I had several behavioral issues, which often landed me in timeout, in school suspension, or out of school suspension. I often could be found in my middle school counselor’s office, avoiding class, spilling tea, and discussing all the drama that comes with middle school. My behavioral issues lead to several parent teacher conferences, tears on my behalf, and confusion about how to best address these issues.. enter my school counselor. Mr. Tom Erbland took the time to invest in me and my issues, identify the problem and find a solution. That investment and him seeing what others couldn't, changed everything. Fast forward, in high school (11th grade), I took my first Psychology class and had never been so interested in a subject. After the first class, I went home, read my book from cover to cover and immediately started diagnosing people :). This led to the decision that a Psychology degree would be necessary for me. I attended Hampton University, studied Psychology, and it sparked the flame. After graduating, I learned as many do, that your options are limited with a Bachelors and in order to do the work I wanted, I would need a Masters, and a license as well.. who knew! Prior to attending Graduate School at UDC, I worked in the District of Columbia with the homeless population. My work included treating, advocating for, and learning first hand what untreated mental illness looks like. My reason for becoming a Mental Health Therapist is that I wanted to be that Mr. Tom Erbland for someone else. I want to assist in providing to others, clarity, comfort, affirmation and a challenge of their thoughts and behaviors. I want to encourage and support my clients in setting and attaining their goals. I enjoy working everyday and feel so blessed and lucky to do this as a career.