Go ahead,

Siiiiiiigh your biggest sigh

You work incredibly hard to show up as best you can in this world that does not seem to be letting up or offering much systemic support. If you’re barreling into burnout, already burnt to a crisp, or fearful of what you’ll have to sacrifice to avoid burnout— I see you.

Whether you’re planning to start a family, just about to bring a life into the world, had a baby recently, or are learning what it’s like to be a parent in this world, there is a place for you here.

You’re not a cookie-cutter parent (and neither am I). That’s a good thing, because we need a more radical, creative, compassionate future than the one we’re being fed. Let’s support you—reeeally support you— so you can show up for yourself, your family, your child, your community, without relying on productivity-focused, capitalistic, conventional values that aren’t your own.

With a near-lifetime of experience in caring for children of all ages, being a youth art facilitator, and being a parent myself, I have had the honor of witnessing and nurturing the lives of many young humans. It’s with this tending and wisdom that I offer tending to the tenders themselves— parents.

Intentional, inclusive space for the spectrum of parenthood

Much of perinatal and parenting work centers cis-women birthing parents and traditional cis-partner parentship, but you and I know there are more ways to be and become parents. My personal experience as a bisexual, nonbinary birthing parent in a less traditional family structure has allowed (and required) me to open and shift my perspectives and holding of families of all identities and formations. Cultural/societal conditioning and institutional anti-trans policies have made mental health, medical care, and perinatal care biased, less accessible, and often outright dangerous for queer and trans families. If you’ve experienced this violence and oppression, I’m holding you and am committed to advocating with you.

Your experiences, identity, history, challenges, traumas, hopes, and abilities are welcome here. You deserve support that meets who you are, right where you are, on your terms.

A person holding a newborn baby with wet hair, viewed from above in black and white.

  • Birthing people, you have been (or soon will go) through the intensity and expansive wildness of life-giving. It’s a transformation, whatever your birth experience. Your relationship to your body and identity is undergoing one of the biggest shifts imaginable. Somatic expressive arts can support your coming into this new identity, body, and orientation. Using somatic attunement and creative expression, I can offer you modes of accessing and integrating these changes in step with your unique path.

  • Your child is magic. They are becoming. Each will emerge further into themselves as they grow. What an honor it is to witness and hold this human unfolding. If you are curious or already committed to not assigning/assuming a gender for your child as part of this process, I have experience and can support you along your own way of navigating this expansive approach. If you have a child that is gender diverse, I’d also be honored to hold your process in supporting them to be their most authentic self.

  • While I don’t offer family or relationship therapy explicity, sometimes I find it transformative to invite a partner, co-parent, or other caregiver into a session (or a few) to allow for more relational support, deeper communication, sturdy interdependence, and understanding of different experiences. We can discuss as and when this may be appropriate for you and your care.

  • Providing resource connections is part of what I love about this work. Whether you’re searching for a midwife, doula, lactation consultant, postpartum yoga, support group, or other access to perinatal, postpartum, or parenting support, I’m here to collaborate to share in my network of professionals in and around Portland, OR who are truly queer-affirming.

  • I am a mental health counselor and have training in perinatal mental health disorders. If you’re facing intense, persistent symptoms and need further diagnostic assessment, medication management, or psychiatric care, I may refer you to a specialist in order to give you the most appropriate support. When able, I like to work collaboratively as part of a care team so you can feel the wraparound tending that is sometimes essential in this tender period of life.