Hey there, fellow adventurer. 

I’m Maggie, a metaphor-loving artist, passionate about working with spirituality-seeking women who’ve found themselves lost, stuck and broken-hearted.

You keep having this recurring dream where you come to what’s supposed to be a fire but it’s only burning embers. Shivering you huddle as close as you can to the glowing coals. You’ve been cold so long it’s hard to feel the burn when you get too close to the hot ash and there’s no one there to pull you back from falling towards the sparking flame. 

Your inner spark has been snuffed out. All this time you’ve been making do with a flashlight. While it emits enough light, it’s not inviting or comforting. The shadows are stark and imposing without any dancing images. Worst of all it doesn’t provide any warmth.

You were most definitely told that you were the problem; if you’d provided the ignition and the fuel, everyone would be happy, right?

Hitching a ride on the collective shame, you turned that damp heap of detritus on yourself as well, and now that the other shoe has dropped, despite all your effort, you cannot find your own source of fire. 

And while it’s the glowing heat is alluring, just like in the dream, you’re afraid of falling into the fire. It makes sense. Uncontrolled, fire can devastate and ruin, but used alchemically, it can restore and clear the way for new growth.

Because you err on the side of lighting everyone else’s fires first, I know you’ve been tamping down your anger. It’s simmering beneath the surface like the smoldering remains of a raging bonfire. I know you’re longing to be unrestrained and yet terrified of your own power. Those burning embers underground drive you in ways you don’t understand. 

I know what it’s like to surrender to your inner flame, fearing your potential to wound others as you’ve been hurt. 

 

 Here’s what I know….

Therapy is giving up the flashlight for the fire. 

The fire that burns within you, cannot burn you. 

 

Without really agreeing to it, you ended up carrying anger and resentment that wasn’t yours; you were the one who leveled the forest, chopped the trees into firewood, and stoked the flames, all while it was the others who received the warmth, all the while being told you were “never really enough”. 

Now you’ve woken from the dream…or was it a nightmare…drained of your resources – financial, emotional, and mental. It’s your turn to say “this ain’t fucking enough” - about the lack of illumination from the flashlight, the deficiency of heat from the fading fire, and the external demands that continue to pull you away from the authenticity you seek. 

I’m here to tell you that sorting through this pain and confusion is too much to handle on your own. You need a guide, not to coddle, caress, and chant over your wounds; but to sit with you next to the fire you’ll learn to build for yourself, touch the heat with you and not run when you get burned. 

I’m not going to lie and tell you that the fire is not hotter and more beautifully dangerous than you think, but the truth is, it’s also what gives birth to the phoenix. 

All is not lost, but it must transform. You are the alchemical component that creates the change.

The women I work with are remarkably like you, free-spirited to the core, yet unraveling, fumbling, and falling out of relationships of all kinds; deeply yearning for connection with self. Using the tinder fuel of raw emotions, uncensored feelings, and individual darkness, I will help you build a new kind of fire, one that will hold space for crying and shaking, for confusion and discomfort.

I know you did all the things you were told to do. You twisted and turned and molded your new world to create a happy home for yourself. You showed up to evening yin yoga and outlined your desk with cleansing crystals. Your evenings are spent crawling from one episode of Dear Sugar to the next, searching for platitudes to get you through. Albeit wonderful advice, Cheryl Strayed’s voice feels distant and not specific enough. 

 

You’ve already worked so hard - why would therapy be any different this time? 

Because I’ve been where you are now. 

I’ve given more in relationships, trying with all my might to anticipate other people’s needs. We’d built the fire together, but they weren’t adding any logs and I wondered why I couldn’t stay warm. 

I too have known my share of darkness, of overwhelming torment, and never-ending sleepless nights obsessing about the myriad of ways I wasn’t good enough, grasping at every shiny self-help object I saw. 

I’ve known what it’s like to put on a smile, pretend you’re living the life, but inside you’re walking a razor-sharp cliff, teetering on some semblance of balance, desperately hoping the self-betrayal you’re wearing will pass as pretty and respectable.

I had to let the fire completely burn out and then I began working with a therapist who could see my creative spark when I couldn’t. She helped me locate and stoke my inner knowing. I began creating again - a baby, a business, a home, and lots and lots of art - but most of all she helped me turn on my own pilot light.

I know you need guidance unique to you - someone who can see your creative spirit when you can’t. With respect, intuition, and deep curiosity, I will get to know you. Together we will travel deep to the core of what makes you, you - and switch on your perpetual inner flame. 

Ready for it? 

Let’s get started →

 

I work from a body-based, existential, psychodynamic lens while wearing rainbow-colored glasses. 

What does that mean?

I help you draw closer to the inner experience of your body as a language for your emotions, memories, and longings. Together we use the experience of our therapeutic relationship as ground for learning deeply about who you are and how you show up in the world. Painting, imagery, metaphor, and dreamwork are all tools at my fingertips for exploring the mystery beyond the speakable. 

I can’t wait any longer, let’s get started!

Maggie sitting on a window seat reading a book

Now for the cut-and-dry, letters-behind-my-name bits:

  • ATR (certified art therapist) #17-266

  • LMHC (licensed mental health counselor)

  • MA in Transpersonal Psychology with an emphasis in Art Therapy from Naropa University

  • BA in Art with an emphasis in Textiles from Western Washington University

  • Current member of the American Art Therapy Association

And some other bits:

  • Full-time, single mom to a teenage boy

  • Obsessive reader, knitter, and painter, and writer

  • Lover of going to bed early, sleeping in late, and occasional mid-day naps

  • Diagnosed ADHD, self-proclaimed HSP and empath