Peer Support
How I Help
I support folks in exploring whatever they’re struggling with, tackling challenges, discovering passions, and creating a life with meaning and purpose. I provide guidance and resources when possible, though I don't know all the answers, and my most important role is listening and empowering people to make the choices they want. I am not here to "fix" people—there's nothing wrong with anyone—but to build a genuine relationship where we can learn from one another and our lived experiences and to give folks hope that things can get better.
Why Peer Support
As a certified peer specialist with eight years of professional experience in the mental health field, I have a wealth of knowledge and skills, including a focus on support of folks with suicidal thoughts. What’s worth more, I think, is that I get it—because I’ve been there too.
Have you ever shared your thoughts with your therapist and felt like they just didn’t understand? Or worse, they panicked? Our educational backgrounds and degrees can only take us so far. Many times what we need is to talk to someone who’s gone through something similar.
I’m not a therapist, and I don't treat anyone like a patient. We’re equals. If I relate to what someone's said, I’ll be open about that and may share my own experience or perspective. This also means I will never report anyone to 911/988 or coerce them into hospitalization. It’s happened to me, and I refuse to put another person in that situation. Instead, I listen. I’ll sit beside someone in the darkness, and I’ll keep listening.
If you'd like to get a better sense of who I am, visit my Substack newsletter or Instagram.
Beliefs & Lived Experience
I believe in conscious communication, that we should care about the impact of our words on others and make purposeful choices about the language we use. I respect the language a person uses to identify themself and what they've experienced.
I try my best to offer kindness and compassion, rather than judgment, and to respect different beliefs and ways of life, but I do not tolerate hate speech.
I am a cisgender white female and turned 40 this year. I'm bisexual and active in the LGBTQ+ community. I've been a foster parent and am physically disabled, though my disability isn't visible. I've struggled with body image and eating most of my life and have had suicidal thoughts since age 12. I grew up in a middle-class family with a mom, dad, and sister and have been married for over a decade. I've been labeled with a slew of diagnoses, all of which I'm open to disclosing if asked. I have experience with many kinds of treatments for depression, such as IV ketamine, TMS, light therapy, meds, and more.
Of Mice and Mental Health
Dissecting the tangled web of mental health with a supportive group of cartoon mice.