My Story Leveraging High-Altitude Resilience for Trauma Recovery in California
Why I Do This Work I specialize in working with caregivers, first responders, medical professionals, and those drawn to high-risk, high-reward environments, people who are used to pushing through, even when something doesn’t feel right underneath. My path here wasn’t just academic, it was lived. I’ve spent much of my life in motion, climbing and traveling through some of the world’s most demanding landscapes. These experiences taught me resilience, but they also exposed me to the reality of trauma in its rawest form. After losing my mother in a kayaking accident, and later supporting a hiker in crisis following a fatal mountain incident, I saw firsthand how the nervous system responds to shock, loss, and overwhelming stress. Not just mentally, but physically. That understanding is what led me to this work.
Why I Chose EMDR
I use EMDR because it works, not just in theory, but in how people actually feel day to day. Many of the people I work with already understand what they’ve been through. The problem isn’t insight. It’s that their body still reacts as if the experience is happening right now. EMDR offers a structured, evidence-based way to change that. Using this approach, we help your brain reprocess traumatic experiences so they no longer feel immediate or overwhelming. Instead of staying stuck as triggers, they become what they should have been all along: memories that are in the past, not running your present. It’s about helping your nervous system actually settle. I’m drawn to this method because it provides a clear, grounded process with measurable shifts, not just in what you understand, but in how you feel and respond. My goal is to help you move from knowing your past logically to feeling, in your body, that you’re no longer in it. In addition to my private practice, I work with R3 Continuum, providing on-site crisis management and psychological first aid for organizations across California.
