Why Counseling Is for Everyone

From wild hair to wise stares — a glimpse at my ID evolution over the years. School IDs and driver’s licenses where the only constant was switching up the face and the follicles.

At Authentic Wellness & Empowerment, we believe counseling is for everyone. That doesn't mean everyone has a mental health diagnosis—it means we all go through challenging seasons of life, face transitions, and carry stress. Counseling isn’t just about crisis or pathology; it’s about being human.

Life has transitions. We're born as itty-bitty babies and if we're fortunate, we grow old. We go through being a toddler, a young child, an adolescent, a teen, a young adult, becoming a parent perhaps, marriage, work, retirement, transitions through retirement—and eventually, dying. Hopefully later than sooner.

Along the way, we encounter isolation, face meaninglessness, and wrestle with the complexity of life—its losses and wins, its hopes and fears. Whether it’s the weight of grief, a sense of being stuck, or the burnout of always showing up for others, counseling helps us make sense of it all. It’s not about what happened—it's about what it meant to you.

As a counselor, I’m here to help you untangle your thoughts and emotions, identify the trauma and drama you've been through, and begin to rewrite the story. I hold a PhD in Counselor Education and Supervision. I’m a Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), and I’ve been trained in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), Internal Family Systems (IFS), and the Gottman Method for relationship support. These are powerful tools for helping people reframe their experiences and grow.

As the Stoic philosopher Epictetus once said: “It’s not the things that happen to you that upset you; it’s the stories you tell yourself about them.”

Counseling is about changing those stories. Depression often stems from “I should” beliefs—Albert Ellis taught us that. Anxiety is driven by “What if?” thoughts. And anger? It's often rooted in “They should” or “He should” or “She should” scripts. Counseling helps you see these patterns and change how you respond.

You don’t need to be overweight to benefit from diet and exercise. You don’t need to be failing to need a coach—Olympians have coaches. You don’t need to be a mess to want better. You don’t need to wait until things fall apart before you ask for help. Most of us benefit from help before it’s a crisis.

And just like most people benefit from a good haircut—even if their hair isn’t in crisis—most people benefit from a counselor. You can try to manage things on your own, or with a friend, but professional guidance often leads to the best results.

At Authentic Wellness and Empowerment, that's what we want for you. Wellness is about having more choices, and empowerment is about experiencing respect and responsibility for yourself and for others. To get what you want out of life. To feel respected and to have the kind of relationships that you want. It's not about temporary relief. It's not about blaming, complaining, and criticizing yourself or someone else. It's about taking charge of what you can, seeing it change, accepting the things you can't change, and carrying that in a way that works best for you and your goals.

Let’s get to work on helping you feel, live, and love more clearly and courageously.