Therapists

So often, hate isolates and separates us from those around us and widens a gap in our connections. The antidote to hatred and isolation is an intentional decision to turn towards one another – to be curious, compassionate, and caring.  One of my favorite quotes is, “Love turns fences into bigger tables” (adaptation from Tamlyn Tomita’s quote). With this kind of love in action, I believe in the power that resides within human connections - to go to the hard places, sitting with a person through their difficult emotions while holding hope for change.

In my own journey, I have experienced how the environment shaped a story around me. Telling me and those around me that our lives appeared to be hopeless and feeling the limitations of choices and options for the future based on location, upbringing, skin color, and resources. Additionally, I have experienced the impact of adult male role models stepping into these spaces of scarcity and broadening the horizon for the future in realistic and tangible ways. And so, I see it as my turn to be an active presence for children and their families holding hope with them through family therapy.  You do not have to do this alone, within therapy I can come alongside you and walk this part of the journey together. 

Family therapy is not just for children and their moms, I also support men on their journey through life as they learn to carry the burdens the world places on being a man. Moreover, I can bring to the table my life experience as a black man – intimately knowing, understanding, and living through the systemic struggles of racism and isolation from the family unit that black men have endured over the generations. I desire to help people who have experienced the pain of being colored in America and to provide security in not feeling alone in the experiences associated with being colored.

Additionally, an area within life that can be commonly overlooked is families with children who have special needs.  I have worked with children and adolescents in the past with special needs and have seen parents struggle with exhaustion and isolation.  Raising a child with special needs takes an extra helping of consistency, predictability and emotional availability – let therapy be a space to get your cup filled so that you can thrive and not just survive.     

Getting to Know Me

I am a Chicago native yet have lived in various places within the country.  Before interning at The Marriage and Family Therapy Clinic at Wheaton College and pursuing my Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy, I worked in Colorado as a Behavioral Therapist with kids ages 2 – 11 years old who have been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder. Concurrently, I was a volunteer youth pastor at my home church, mentoring tenth graders through the challenges of life and occasionally giving sermons.

As I was working as a Behavioral Therapist, I felt conflicted by the experience of treatment for children. I provided therapy for children one-on-one working on their skill building and socialization; however, therapy often ended once they left the building with no plan for follow through beyond the therapy time. I don’t think therapy (or its benefits) can have its full impact when it is confined to four walls—it needs to happen beyond the therapeutic space, in the real world of the child. It takes effort from everyone around the children, especially the family, which is the driving passion that led me to the field of Marriage and Family Therapy. 

At The MFT Clinic, I work under the supervision of both Dr. Wendy Smith, PsyD, and Jessica Drachenberg, LMFT with a specialized focused on making therapy accessible to those who may not have it readily available.