I know that finding a therapist can be tough. How do you pick someone that you’ll potentially invite into the most private parts of your life just from looking at their website? What if you spend all that time, money, and emotional energy, and you end up not liking them? Thoughts like these may be going through your mind as you look for a therapist. They’d certainly be going through mine. That's why I've put this page on here - so you can get to know a little bit more about me. As always, feel free to call me at (916) 844-4615 or email me if you have any additional questions.

Education

I received a Bachelor’s degree in Family Studies with a minor in Psychology from Brigham Young University. During my undergraduate years I gained a love for helping people through their struggles. I wanted to stay at BYU, because with a rejection rate of over 90% (i.e., they accept less than 10% of their applicants) and the most extensive faculty in the nation at the time, BYU's Masters Marriage and Family Therapy program is widely considered one of the best in the nation. Somehow (I still don't know how...I had a really bad cold on the day of interviews!) I was accepted into the program, and graduated two years later. Two articles from my master's thesis on enactments (a technique in marital therapy) were published in the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, the top family therapy journal in the world. I've since been pleased to learn that those articles are used widely in training programs throughout the nation (and even a few programs in Asia). (You can read more about this and my other studies on the research page.)

From there I moved to Blacksburg, Virginia to get a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in MFT at Virginia Tech. My family and I had a lot of fun enjoying the southern hospitality of the Appalachian mountains and Hokie football. While at VT, my dissertation proposal won the nationally competitive 2004 Graduate Student Research Award presented by the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy, my field's national professional organization. A year later my completed doctoral dissertation won the nationally-competitive 2005 AAMFT Dissertation Award. That was a real honor for me, because nobody had ever won both awards before or since. I have since published several professional articles and two books based on my dissertation

From Virginia Tech my family and I moved to Lexington, Kentucky to complete my doctoral internship and post-doctoral training as a temporary faculty in the MFT program at the University of Kentucky. We loved all of the green, rolling hills and immaculate horse farms (and basketball!) in Lexington (although the camping was a little scary -- never go camping in rural Kentucky on the campground's "Official NASCAR Fans Weekend")!

Current Job as an MFT Professor

Even though the East coast is beautiful and we'd made a lot of friends out there, my family and I were excited to come back west (we're west-coasters at heart) to take a job as Assistant Professor and Clinical Coordinator in Alliant International University's newly-opened Sacramento Campus. Alliant is one of the foremost MFT training programs on the west coast, and the only COAMFTE Accredited (the highest level of MFT accreditation in the United States) MFT Training program in Northern California, so I was honored to be invited to join their faculty. I have since been promoted to the rank of Associate Professor and Site Director of Sacramento's MFT program.

While at Alliant I teach graduate MFT courses, conduct research, write professional articles, administer the program, and a million other things. It's a lot of fun!

Please visit my research and teaching pages to learn more about what I'm up to in each of those areas, including books I've written or co-written.

Clinical Experience

I have been working with individuals, couples, and families for over ten years and in four different states. I have worked primarily in university clinics, government agencies, and private practice. I was a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in Kentucky (License # KY0634), and am also a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in California (License #45885).

I am a Clinical Member and Approved Supervisor of the American Association of Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT), the national professional organization for Marriage and Family Therapists. Visit my homepage to learn about the types of challenges I've helped people with over the years.

Community Presentations

I also have a lot of experience providing presentations to community, civic, and church groups on issues such as communication, conflict resolution, parenting, and other mental health topics. I provide most of these presentations for free as a service to the community. If you are interested in having me speak at your organization, email or call me at (916) 844-4615 to see if my schedule allows.

Personal Information

When I'm not working or spending time with my family, you can usually find me messing with my backyard, relaxing with family friends, snowboarding, woodworking, camping, or trying to fix things that I broke while trying to "improve" them. I'm also a big fan of the 24 Hours of Le Mans motorsport race held each spring in France. Go Audi!