As a teenager, I came across A Book of Obscure Sorrows by John Koenig and learned the definition of Sonder: Noun. (neologism) The profound feeling of realizing that everyone, including strangers passing on the street, has a life as complex as your own, which they are constantly living despite your personal lack of awareness of it. Growing up in a small farm town, the discovery of this word suddenly made me question my identity and place in the world. I felt much smaller knowing that every single person takes up just as much space as I do, but I also felt curious. Over time I began to realize that I have an indefinable desire to understand the complexities of those endless faceted and unique lives. I poured that curious desire into my art, exploring the dark labyrinth of the human mind with creativity and wonder; and it was through my art that I discovered a new way of understanding. I started to define emotions for myself, and in making my interpretations of my lived experiences into art, I was able to cope and grow in the complexities of being a young adult. Using creativity as my means of emotional travel taught me that if I can find a way through life using art, then so can many others. That thought pushed me to become an art teacher and teach kids how to do that same thing at perhaps the most complex and confusing stage of life, high school. Teaching high school art for the past 6 years has been a profound experience and challenged all my preconceived notions of what my impact on this world can be. I suddenly learned that I have the potential to change lives, teach lessons that span far beyond the classroom, and offer others creative and open-minded perspectives to use as they navigate future challenges in their lives. That responsibility carries a huge weight but comes with an immense reward. My students face constant prejudice and racism and are going up against a giant system that already starts them at a deficit. Through their eyes, I have seen the impacts that trauma can have on a young mind. Through my work with students I have learned many lessons, but perhaps the most impactful lesson is that everyone has the potential to heal and experience joy. I know under the exteriors and facades that my students wear, there are young minds that deserve to be cherished. Some of those minds are buried deeper in the thorns of trauma than others, but with the right tools and enough effort, patience, and love even the most overgrown minds can be reached. 

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Additionally, I want my impact to span further than my clients by giving the people I work with the tools they will need to open minds beyond their own. My interest lies in novice and non-traditional therapy types that I truly believe can make a wide impact, especially on diverse minds. However, in my own studies, I have seen that there is a great need in furthering these methods and making them accessible to the people who need them most. I want to use my time spent at CU and beyond to make an impact in the field of psychology with research, implementation, and wider accessibility to unique therapy practices. I believe in the immense healing that art and nature can provide and I want to learn how to take these approaches and apply them to my practices of mental health and therapy.   

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My time spent deep in the halls of a high school warren has revealed a much larger issue than funding and curriculum. Contemporary high school students are facing an intense surge of mental health challenges while in the middle of determining who they are and how they process their experiences. The everyday traumas that we are exposed to in the news, technology infiltrating almost every aspect of our lives, a climate crisis, political turmoil, and confusing hormones have led to a mental health crisis among our youngest generations. I believe our current state of crisis combined with the fast-evolving tendencies of human nature has made non-traditional mental health more important than ever. A variety of approaches offers a beautiful opportunity to spread growth and healing into even the darkest crevices of the confusing path of young adults. Contemporary approaches to therapy with the use of art, gardens, animals, and wilderness truly encapsulate what I believe can be the future of accessibility in mental health. They allow a unique opportunity to infuse local neighborhoods with the resources of mental health outside of an office and can give folks, who may traditionally not have access to therapy, an avenue into the practices and tools that can help enrich their lives. An underlying factor in my career plans is community and access.

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I have an interest in creating a unique space that can house multiple different venues and fulfill the needs of numerous nontraditional counseling offices. For example, as a lifelong artist, I want to have art studios available to use when an artistic approach is right for a client. These studios can also offer opportunities to enrich my neighborhood through local art events and classes. My next client may respond better to a kinesthetic approach in a natural setting and would benefit from time spent in the gardens that I want to incorporate into my space to utilize a horticultural therapy approach. Such gardens can also support my local communities with nutritious and accessible food and create opportunities for healing through a sense of hard work, empowerment, and shared space. Additionally, I want to have the resources to team up with a local animal shelter to train and use animal therapy in my practice, further supporting my locals. And I want to use my own life-changing experiences in nature to offer therapeutic wilderness retreats and experiences to include wilderness therapy and further instill environmentalism into my clients, practice, and neighborhood. I have a big plan, with many moving parts and I don’t plan to do it alone, I will constantly be on the lookout for others to bring into my circle to support and evolve my vision and help carry it to a place of wonderful growth for our clients and community.