I’m someone who deeply understands what it feels like to be stuck and not know why.

From childhood to adulthood, I thought I was normal and had lived a normal childhood. When conflicts came up, I just “dealt” with them by ignoring the problem or blaming the person. It worked for a very long time until it didn’t.

After a series of major life-changing events (including uprooting my ideal life for a marriage that ended in divorce and led to family estrangement), I suddenly became aware of symptoms no one could explain — getting sick often, stomach aches, skin rashes, headaches, emotional outbursts, and deep shutdowns. I tried everything I was told and went to every doctor and specialist you could think of, and even went to therapy. I tried everything, but nothing worked. I began to believe I was simply stuck with these challenges. While therapy eventually helped me realize that I had experienced childhood trauma (complex PTSD), abandonment, and severe anxiety— it didn’t provide me the tools and insight I needed to address my daily physical and emotional symptoms.

It eventually sunk in that what I was experiencing wasn’t my fault — it was my nervous system doing its best to protect me. I realized that I did not grow up in a healthy environment, and that I was rarely taught healthy coping skills. I began to understand how unprocessed trauma, emotional confusion, and possible neurodivergence were all part of a much bigger picture. One that no one had ever taught me how to see, let alone heal.

My journey led me to create Behavior Roots, a place dedicated to helping you interrupt cycles and cultivate self-awareness. I’ve used my personal and clinical experience as a behavior analyst to help other adults, clinicians, and even parents and educators to all do the same thing— and that is to unlearn old habits and build the foundation for stronger, healthier connections, both within yourself and with others.

If any of this resonated with you, then you’re in the right place.