In addition to journaling since I was an adolescent, I started to work on writing self-help material in 2014 as a means to mitigate my professional burn-out and to find new ways to share the skills, insights, and tips that I had learned from years of client service. Unfortunately, I found writing self-help manuals boring and uninspiring. 

​

I abandoned the writing I was doing when I found a Creativity Coach to help me find my “true” voice. I began writing creative non-fiction and personal essays and found this way more relieving and satisfying! From there, I was invited by a friend to participate in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) where I was, for the first time, challenged with "making stuff up" rather than speaking truth and wisdom for the healing benefit of others.

​

My first NaNoWriMo character was a burned-out therapist who took a month sabbatical in what turned out to be a haunted house. Of course, hi-jinx ensued. I found fiction writing purely delightful and a fun escape! I have since completed four NANOWRIMOs and have been utterly fascinated by all the ways writing can be used to treat our human ailments. 

​

Through my explorations of using the written word as a healing and beneficial escape, I started to explore oral storytelling due to my love of folklore – particularly ghost stories. I entered a Story Slam to try my hand at personal story telling, and was amazed at the power that telling a five-minute story to a quiet audience held. After the Slam, I began self-educating on storytelling. I had a huge face-palm moment when I realized that my profession as a therapist was, in fact, this whole time, working in the healing art of story telling!​​