Philosophy of Therapy
I believe that my clients are the experts in their own lives. My role is to come alongside
you with specialized training, a deep understanding of trauma and attachment, and
compassionate curiosity. Together, we build a roadmap that balances safety, honesty, and
forward movement.
You are always in charge of the pace. I integrate education, experiential work, and
evidence-based treatment to encourage an action-oriented approach to change, while never
losing sight of the tenderness of your story.
Professional Background
I am a psychologist with over 25 years of experience working with individuals and couples
facing relationship trauma, betrayal, sexual addiction, complex PTSD, and long-standing
attachment injuries. My professional foundation was in marriage and family therapy, and over
time I have developed a specialty in intensive work with couples and partners navigating
sexual betrayal and intimacy disorders.
My work has included outpatient therapy, intensive workshops and intensives, and supervision
for other clinicians. I have extensive experience working with trauma in many forms—from
betrayal trauma, to developmental and attachment trauma, to combat-related PTSD.
I am the founder and Executive Director of Intensive Recovery Healing, where we offer a
structured, compassionate, and highly specialized pathway for those impacted by sex and
pornography addiction and their partners.
I am also the co-author of multiple resources for therapeutic disclosure, including the
Full Disclosure Workbook series, designed to help both partners and disclosers
prepare for a safe, thorough, and healing disclosure process.
Training Path
The pain my clients bring to me is profound, so I put a great deal of time, effort, and investment
in the training I believe is necessary for helping others heal. I consider knowledge and training an
important investment in my skills as a professional. I'm proud that I have chosen wisely in the
pockets of knowledge I've put a great deal of time and effort in pursuing. Sometimes I followed the
training choices of the colleagues surrounding me; sometimes I've had to lead the pack.
I am the first Certified Sex Addiction Therapist and CSAT supervisor in McKinney,
the first certified Sexual Recovery Therapist in Texas, the first professional to
be certified as a Partner Recovery Therapist and Partner Betrayal Trauma
Therapist, as well as the first to be certified as an Intimacy Anorexia
Therapist, and first Somatic Experiencing Practitioner in the greater
Dallas-Fort Worth area.
I am the founder and clinical director of McKinney Counseling & Recovery, Intensive Recovery
Healing, and Intensive Recovery Coaching – the three sisters in the Intensive Hope family. I was a
founding member and vice-president of the nonprofit Association for Partners of Sex Addicts
Trauma Specialists (APSATS), the first organization dedicated to the needs of partners
of sex addicts and creators of the Multidimensional Partner Trauma Model, a then radical change in
recognizing and treating partner betrayal trauma. I continue to serve as a board member for APSATS
and provide supervision consultation for Certified Clinical Partner Specialist candidates. I also
utilize this model when working with those in recovery for sexual or pornography addiction and have
found incorporating this partner sensitive approach crucial in helping both parties restore trust.
The discovery of intimacy anorexia was an absolute game changer – the missing piece in understanding
how to conceptualize both sex addiction and betrayal trauma recovery. This field is in its infancy
and, although a difficult relationship pattern to effect change, the quest to understand it has
sparked my most recent training quest – unlocking the mysteries of attachment issues.
Somatic Experiencing, developed by Peter Levine, was a 3-year intensive training process that
transformed my own nervous system in the process. I foolishly thought would end when my
certification was achieved. What happened instead is I was awakened to limitless curiosity and the
smorgasbord of advanced and master class trainings in pursuit of deepening my knowledge of trauma
resolution, the nervous system, polyvagal inputs and the body. Additionally, I continue to assist at
Somatic Experiencing trainings.
I have also trained with Dr. Brené Brown and have been a Certified Daring Way Facilitator™ since
2016. Brené's work on shame resilience and vulnerability, and much that I learned from Pia Mellody
and Peter Levine, provides an important superstructure that all healing fits into.
Additional Training Includes
- Trained with Dr. Patrick Carnes, the foremost authority in the field of sexual
addiction recovery, and utilize his task-oriented approach in treating internet pornography and
compulsive sexual behavior. Trained with Dr. Doug Weiss, president of the American
Association of Sex Addiction Therapy and utilize his trauma-based approach to the treatment of
spouses/partners of sex addicts. Continue to mentor with Doug on a weekly basis.
- Sexual Compulsivity Clinical Training with Maureen Canning, MA, LMFT,
clinical consultant for the Meadows Dakota, extended care for sexual recovery.
- Early Recovery Couples Empathy Model-Candidate (ERCEM)
- Level 2 PACT trained by Dr. Stan Tatkin in use of the Psychobiological Approach to
Couple Therapy.
- Externship in Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFT), an empirically based therapy
created by Dr. Susan Johnson.
- Basic level trained in Trauma First Aide, a method of working directly or indirectly
with the nervous system to help re-establish the mind-body connection that is lost as a result
of trauma.
- Completed training in treating shame associated with Complex PTSD as part of becoming a
Certified Shame-Informed Treatment Specialist.
- Completed all modules of Body and Somatic Relational Work (BASE), a study of Relational
Bodywork, Polyvagal Structures, Viscera and the Autonomic Nervous System; Social Engagement,
Orienting and Trust, Fascia, Muscle; Bones, Joints, Soft Power, Cranium, Concussions and PTSD;
and Eyes, Joints, Somatic Relational Work, Sensory Motor Tools.
- Completed training in identifying and addressing work and financial disorders issues as part of
Certified Multiple Addictions Therapist requirements.
- EMDR: Completed training in Feeling-State Addiction Protocol, a form of EMDR used to
disconnect the pleasurable experience associated with an addictive behavior, thus eliminating
the reinforcement that maintains the addictive behavior.
- EMDR: Completed training with Dr. Laurell Parnell on Attachment-Focused EMDR: Healing
Developmental Deficits and Adults Abused as Children.
- EMDR-PRECI: Training in Therapy Protocols for Early Intervention and Ongoing Traumatic
Stress.
- Accelerated Resolution Therapy: Completed training.
- Cognitive Processing Therapy: Completed training.
- Completed all training modules for NARM, the NeuroAffective Relational Model of
attachment.
- Completed Modules 1 and 4 of Diane Poole Heller's Dynamic Attachment Re-patterning experience
(DARe)
- Attachment: Completed Relational Development Rupture and Repair: A Somatic
Developmental Perspective