Inclusive coaching & retreats to cultivate thriving relationships. 
Inclusive coaching & retreats to cultivate thriving relationships. 

Welcome to Garden Space. We're planting seeds for relational living. 

I'm glad you're here.

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the difference between therapy & coaching? 

What about similarities?

I can only speak for the parallels between my own coaching and therapy practices here, as there are no standardized qualifications for all coaches or their practices.

*Regulated (therapy) vs unregulated (coaching) pros and cons:


Therapists are mandated to keep specific records for a specific period of time that extends past a client's termination date (seven years in Texas and Oregon). Some clients need these clinical records and diagnoses when applying for disability, seeking some types of medical care and/or insurance reimbursement, or needing clinically relevant information to support a court case. Legally, these records are also the client's medical record, not solely the therapist's or the state's, so a client may also request and be granted a copy of those records at any time.


A regulated license also gives clients who believe that their therapist has behaved unprofessionally a resource to file a complaint with the therapist’s state licensing board. That board has the power to investigate and discipline licensees as needed. The state also has the broad authority to request and audit confidential documentation of its own volition. Insurance companies often require shared documentation, as well, in order to determine medical necessity, from which they decide whether or not they will pay for services. Whether you consider all of this a pro or con may depend on whether or not you believe the state and/or your insurnace company will function in your favor. The same goes for court subpoenas. 


Coaching, on the other hand, while it is a legitimate and growing professional field in my opinion, is not regulated by any legal authority or official board, so there are no documentation requirements and no official measures in place to address professional or ethical complaints.  Again, whether or not you consider this a pro or a con will depend on your personal experiences, needs, and preferences. 


Maybe we can think of it like a physical therapist (parallel with a clinical mental health therapist) vs a personal trainer (parallel with a life coach). The physical therapist will have years of advanced education and training as well as intake documentation and ongoing notes for every visit to record medical necessity and progress; they center healing from injury that gets in the way of strength and functionality. A personal trainer may or may not have any kind of advanced education, training, or certifications, and they might just have you provide as little as basic demographic information and sign a waiver (and even that's an assumption; some might not!); they center strength, agility, speed, and motivation. Additionally, similar to therapists and coaches, a PT can apply their knowledge to be a personal trainer, while a personal trainer cannot also be a PT.


*The potential for harm:


If you kick a rock, you're likely to hit a licensed therapist with big opinions and bad feelings about the coaching industry. And, it's understandable. Being the unregulated field that it is, coaches can claim all sorts of expertise and make promises they can't back up. As a therapist, I've known life coaches who eventually got the education and training to start doing therapy, and they reflected on their coaching practice with a cringe; they hadn't known what they didn't know. Back to the PT/trainer analogy: A trainer that is not also a PT runs a huge risk of missing, minimizing, and thereby exacerbating injuries they don't understand. An unqualified trainer also runs the additional greater risk of causing injuries that weren't already present.


All in all, my take on it is this: Coaching with me is about being accountable to your relational goals, and healing emotional distress can be a ripple effect of that work; if the emotional distress is getting in the way of our coaching work, I'll refer you to a therapist. Therapy with me is about centering and working through that emotional distress; achieving your goals is the ripple effect, and you may or may not want a referral to a coach. To me, the difference can be pretty nuanced. Whether you are looking for coaching or therapy, finding a qualified therapist is arguably a lot easier, as their education and credentials are front and center requirements. You at least have a baseline idea of the skills and experience of every single therapist, and even then it can be difficult to find someone that feels like a good fit for you as an individual. Finding a coach that suits your vibe, goals, and expectations, and also stays in their lane, knowing and being accountable to the limitations of their knowledge and expertise, might be more of a needle in a haystack situation. Perhaps those of us with licensure and practicing in both domains are that proverbial needle.

  • What issues do you work with?

    All things relational! I primarily provide coaching for couples seeking better communication, deeper understanding, emotional intimacy, relational healing after betrayal, and erotic connection. I also enjoy working with individuals navigating the dating world and wanting to be proactive about their relational strengths and wellness. 

  • How do I know if you're the right coach for me?

    First, I'm just going to throw out there that I'm good at this. I'm confident in my academic qualifications as well as my lived experiences, and I'm also a huge fan of continuing education. I love what I get to do for a living. Helping people cultivate a genuine connection to their partner(s) and an authentic, confident sense of self is definitely my jam. 



    Now, with that out of the way, not every coach is made for every person, so I encourage every potential client to consider if we will be compatible. I encourage you to read on this webpage about me and my approach (including both coaching modalities and my practice as intersectionally allied, affirming, and inclusive). I'm happy to chat with you for a few minutes on the phone to get a feel for the fit. If so, wonderful! If not, I am also happy to see if I can find referrals that could better suit your needs. 



    If we're already working together, and questions of our compatibility arise, I absolutely encourage you to bring it up. In order to meet your needs best, honest collaboration is key.

  • What should I expect?

    For private coaching, the general structure goes like this: I’m going to start by working with you to gather a whole lot of information about your experiences and relational cycles. For couples, this means hearing each of you out, in full, without the expectation that you have to agree on everything. We’re going to clarify what you want as well as how and why you’ve been stuck in negative cycles. This often involves looking through a family of origin and/or sociocultural lens, and challenging beliefs and adaptations that no longer serve you.


    From there we get to work together to dismantle the barriers to find and reinforce the inroads to your goals. We’re going to help you feel empowered and reconnected through insights, accountability, and shared understanding, followed by learning and applying new skills, creating a relational tool kit, and developing a shared vision and resilient relational scaffolding.


    In short, you are going to learn how to authentically and effectively relate not only to your partner, but to yourself. 


    At retreats and workshops, you can expect to get a whole lot of the same information and activities you'll get in your private work, including prompts to explore your personal and relational experiences and expectations, but without the intensity of the undivided attention and with the shared experience of a group dynamic. You’ll be invited (not obligated) to participate in group discussion, and you’ll have break-out mini-sessions with your partner to talk about and practice applying the information. 


    Regardless of how much they share in the large group sessions, attendees of these group offerings more often than not talk about how helpful it is to hear, see, and be among others who are navigating a lot of the same challenges and goals. 


    • With all that said about the structure of standard sessions and group retreats and workshops, I'm compelled to add that there are no miracles, crystal balls, or easy buttons. I invite you and your partner to do the work. I cannot do it for you, I cannot make you do it, and I cannot tell you with absolute certainty that doing the work will unequivocally give you the ride off into the sunset, happily ever after that you want. Here's what I can tell you about doing the work: You will have the tools and insights to make it work, if you both want it to work. You will come out of our time together with clear insights into who you are, how you got here, and what you want; you won't necessarily want the same things. You will understad your relational ecosystem and your role within it, and the insights, tools, and agency you earned get to be applied in broad domains of your life, whether it's this relationship or others. You will be empowered to cultivate relational joy. 

  • Can you be both my therapist & coach?

    Short answer: Nope. 


    Longer answer: That would violate the rules against dual relationships in my clinical licensure. If you work with me as a coach and we determine that you could benefit from assessment and interventions through a clinical lens, I have a wonderful referral network to get you connected with someone else to meet that need. The same goes for my clinical practice; if a client wants to add coaching to their support network, or even completely forgo the clinical lens and ditch the state regulated model, I will get them coaching referrals. Whatever lane we start in, that's where we stay. 


    So if you want coaching from me, you're in the right place! If, after looking over the similarities and differences, you decide you'd rather have therapy with me, please click on over to my clinical page. 

Approach

My approach is fundamentally relational, collaborative, educational, and transparent, and I offer and invite candor, humor, and genuine understanding.

Neurobiology

Admittedly, I nerd out on this stuff. The work of experts like Steven Porges, Dan Siegel, Robert Sapolsky, Bessel van der Kolk, Nan Wise, Viktor Frankl, Peter Levine, and Bonnie Badenoch teaches us how a basic understanding of neuroscience, implicit memory, and the felt sense can empower us all. Addressing our wiring can be ridiculously hard work, and while we can't just decide or be forced to change into something completely contrary to our authentic identity (the impact of attempts to do so is fundamentally harmful), neuroplasticity does mean we can make incredibly meaningful changes in how we relate to ourselves, our partners, and the world around us.

Parts Work

Twenty years ago, I would've died on the hill of insistence that inner child work was woo-woo and not scientifically relevant. It would have been an early, untimely death. Whether you want to call it inner child, implicit memory, your bottom brain, or your Internal Family System, parts work gives us the scaffolding to understand how our life experiences have shaped who we are and how we show up in our relational dynamics. Parts work is neurobiological work. It's not entirely nature vs nurture; it's a lot of nature shaped by nurture. It's not leaving the past in the past; it's orienting to the map of our existence and understanding our nervous system to make informed, empowered choices.

Sociocultural

We live and breathe in a thick atmosphere of both implicit and explicit family, social, and cultural messages about who we're supposed to be, how we're supposed to be, with whom we're supposed to be, and when we're supposed to be it. Of course, we also inevitably apply these expectations to our loved ones.


Maybe that doesn't sound so bad, right? We are wired for connection and belonging, after all, so our conditioning (social norms and prescribed roles) can serve us well... until it doesn't. Often enough, our conditioning is at odds with what we actually want, who we actually are, and even what we need.

Values-oriented Motivational Interviewing

If we think of the intersection of our experiences and our nervous system as our map, our values are our compass. I teach you how to create the map. You teach me about your compass. We apply your compass to your map. Depending on how old you are, you might remember overhead projectors and the slide sheets that went with them. Each of these approaches, like slide sheets, overlays with the others to create a complete picture. We work together to develop an understanding that will help you to slow down, orient, and decide with intention how you want to show up in this world and invest in relational satisfaction and joy.

Academic training & continuing education

Texas State University: MA, Professional Counseling, 2011

Sexual Health Alliance

Relational Life Institute (RLT)

Multiple Clinical Trainings

Self Study

Vision

A culture of relational health and wellness rooted in authenticity, respect, pleasure, and intimacy. 

Mission

Supporting your relational development through professional insights, candor, and compassionate coaching as well as by honoring, expanding, and honing the strengths you already have. 

Let's Talk

The first step to getting the relationship you want is reaching out. Let's find a time where to talk about what's on your mind.

Reach out now
Share by: