Wild Spirit Coaching
  LIFE COACHING FOR YOUNG ADULTS & TEENS

Many people look back on their teen years, especially high school, as one of the best times of their lives. For me, it's the opposite. As a teen, I felt utterly lost, full of anger, and mired in self-judgment. My parents, who were preoccupied with their own marital conflict, put their attention elsewhere since, on the surface, I always seemed “okay.” But they didn’t know that I was engaging in risky behavior — including drinking, using drugs, skipping school, and hitchhiking as my primary mode of transportation. I was deeply unhappy but felt that there was absolutely no one in my life who cared to see me, acknowledge me, or guide me. Today, I believe that just one caring and supportive person can make a profound difference in a young person's life.

 

My previous education and professional career was in the design field, but I always held a deep interest in psychology and in exploring how we become the people we are. In the mid-2000s, I began to feel called to work with teens, who, like myself, were trying to find their way through the tumultuous landscape of adolescence. I trained to become a facilitator of Teen Talking Circles, and in the years since have been a volunteer mentor for various organizations focused on youth, including Seattle Youth Garden Works (now Tilth Alliance Youth Garden Works), Community for Youth, and Girls Inc.

 

In 2017, I returned to school and graduated with a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies focused on Adolescent Psychology. I also enrolled in the Youth Coaching Institute and became certified as a Youth Mentor Coach. Life coaching gives me tools to empower youth and watch them transform themselves. The more I experience it, the more I believe in it.

 

In addition to coaching, I work as a crisis counselor. I love to garden, make art, music, and explore nature around my Portland, Oregon home.