Building Authentic Connections, Healing Through Relationships

My Story

The Journey That Led Me Here

My path to becoming a therapist began when I was a kid. My parents divorced when I was around 5 years old. I saw both of them struggle in different ways and I saw my sibling struggle, as well as myself. In the 8th grade I told the Careers Class teacher that I wanted to be a counselor or an airline pilot. She told me I should check into being a garbage man. Her advice motivated me to prove her wrong. I started working on my pilot’s license when I was in high school and finished it when I was 18. I then went to university, graduated, got married and started a family. While working in social services I realized that I still wanted to be able to do counseling, so we moved to Salt Lake City and I worked my way through a master’s degree in social work and became licensed to do therapy. Since I was already working for the State of Utah, I transferred to Child and Family Services and have been working with children, adults and families ever since. I retired from the State of Utah after 30 years of service. Now I focus on online therapy as well as being a husband, father and grandfather. I also work part-time for a regional airline to keep that fire alive. And, by the way, I did work a campus job for a year in college as a garbage man.

Working within the Child Welfare System taught me that people are incredibly resilient, even in the face of overwhelming challenges. I've witnessed transformations that seemed impossible, all because someone believed in a person's capacity to heal and grow.