Igniting change through therapy and teaching.

When I was preparing for college, I found myself standing at the intersection of two roads: education and therapy. Both of these pathways equally allowed me to live out my dreams of helping others on a personal level. I felt like I was being pulled in both directions, and my only option was to look to God for guidance. I ended up choosing elementary education.

After a few classes, I realized that I was not as invested in the coursework as other students seemed. I was feeling called in a different direction, so I pivoted and decided to pursue a therapy career instead. This led me to take a course in Marriage & Family Counseling. Every aspect of this class fascinated me, and I finally felt certain that I had figured out how I would make a difference in this world.

Every time I was present with someone in therapy who was willing to share the hardest parts of their life with me, I saw how helping them navigate their experiences led to something bigger and ignited positive change in the world.

It wasn’t until later in life that I ended up at the exact same crossroads I had started in, staring both therapy and education in the face. This time, I realized that I could choose both. 

Teaching graduate students resonates with me far more than elementary education did in my first few months of college. Between my clinical practice and teaching at Eastern, I not only use my knowledge and passion to impact the lives of my clients, but I can also use that experience to help my students impact others, too.

It has been such a gift to be able to use what I have learned in my work with clients and bring the concepts that I teach to life in the classroom. My goal is to offer students an education that explores who they are and what truly fulfills them in life, while preparing them to pursue it. Students of all backgrounds are constantly in dialogue with each other, exchanging ideas, integrating faith and practice, and pushing each other to think outside of the box and wrestle with their beliefs. 

This is the kind of education that creates therapists, educators, pastors, and more who are inspired and prepared to ignite positive change in their communities and the world.