I started my journey into helping people with mental health challenges after being raised by a mother with severe mental illness as well as suffering with debilitating depression as a teen. I majored in Psychology, thinking I would some day be a therapist like the one that helped me.

In the City Arts program at the University of Minnesota, I got a great mix of exposure to social services and art as an expression of emotion and advocacy. After an Art Therapy internship at Harriet Tubman, I developed a passion for approaches less traditional.  After a long career as a mental health advocate working with people with severe and chronic mental health diagnosis and working helping persons experiencing homelessness to rebuild their lives, I dove into nursing and health and wellness.

I have more than 100 certifications in health, mental health and wellness including Board Certification for Health and Wellness Coaching, Stress Management Coaching, Behavior Change Specialist and Emotional Intelligence Coaching.

In 2023 my world came crashing down around me within a few months. Unexpectedly, I lost my dog, my mom and my marriage, and my sister got diagnosed with cancer. Many other things piled on. I couldn’t get in with providers that took my insurance for months, and even online therapy was $100-200 an hour, and I just couldn’t keep up. I talked to others and found mental health crises to be an epidemic. That’s how Wellness While Waiting was born.

I am not a counselor or therapist but a multiple disciplinary mental health coach. Wellness While Waiting is a landing place for people to come and learn some tools that can help them develop awareness of thoughts and feelings and more control over emotional responses while waiting to get in to therapy or in addition to therapy at a more affordable price.

In Wellness While Waiting you will learn:

– to develop or increase emotional intelligence

– to catch negative emotions early and avoid triggers

– to better deal with life events

– to communicate effectively

– tools to return to calm and relaxed state after upset

– how lifestyle habits can help your mental health