In 2018, I completed my basic EMDR training (the classic two-weekend in-person model) through The Institute for Creative Mindfulness. I’ll be honest, I was intimidated and a little unsure even after the first day, thinking this was too hokey. However, inspired and excited, I brought what I learned back to my outpatient role—only to be met with pushback. I was told EMDR belonged “only in the trauma department” and wasn’t appropriate for my caseload. Yet, from where I stood, nearly all of my clients were carrying trauma (because life itself is deeply traumatizing). That was a turning point.

Rather than set EMDR aside, I leaned in. I decided to build a space where I could integrate the work because I believed in it so strongly. In early 2019, I left the community mental health world and launched my own practice, which eventually transitioned to fully virtual care in 2020 and now functions as hybrid. Along the way, I co-founded Lotus Counseling Collective, a collective of practices who share the values of accessibility, support, and strong community connection.

As I continued my EMDR journey, I sought consultation and mentorship with people who resonated with my values. That’s when I connected with Amber, a consultant whose background in community mental health mirrored my own and who carried a grounded, approachable energy that felt like home. Amber showed me what it looked like to create a consultation space that was not only clinically sharp but also real, laid-back, and deeply human. That experience changed the way I thought about consultation and inspired me to step into it myself.

Since then, my role in the EMDR community has expanded. I’ve had the opportunity to help shift some of my colleagues’ perspectives about EMDR, showing them that it doesn’t have to be siloed or reserved for only the most “severe trauma cases.” Instead, it can be a flexible and responsive for the wide spectrum of human experiences we see every day in our offices and communities. I moved into becoming part of basic trainings through Amber Stiles-Bodnar Consulting, where I now have the privilege of supporting new clinicians as they take their first steps into EMDR.

Through consultation, my goal is to create the kind of space I once needed myself: affordable, accessible, and welcoming to clinicians who want to grow, ask questions, and practice without judgment. My style is authentic, practical, and community-driven, because I believe that therapists, like our clients, thrive in spaces that honor both our humanity and our professional growth.

Today, my work in consultation reflects the same values that led me down this path back in 2019: that EMDR should not be gatekept, that accessible training and mentorship matter, and that healing starts with creating a supportive community of therapists who can do this hard, important work together.

I graduated with my Master’s in Social Work from The Ohio State University in 2014, and like many of us, I spent the first few years of my career working in a variety of community mental health settings. During that time, I began noticing a disconnect: while I was seeing client after client whose lives were shaped by trauma, the system around me did not always recognize or value the impact of trauma on mental health.