Welcome to Laurel Oaks Counseling & Therapy!

The name Laurel Oaks reflects resilience — the laurel leaf symbolizing triumph, paired with the oak, a symbol of strength and stability.

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Here’s something I don’t think we say enough: anxiety is a big deal.

It can feel like a never-ending merry-go-round, with far-reaching effects — straining relationships, disrupting work or school, fueling avoidance, eroding self-esteem, and leading to isolation. For some, it can even open the door to unhealthy coping or chronic stress-related health concerns.

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Anxiety is my primary focus as a therapist, largely because of my own long and very real relationship with it (yes — very on-brand therapist origin story). I lived with intense anxiety from early childhood through my mid-30s, including long stretches of what I now recognize as high-functioning anxiety — getting things done and appearing “fine” — and other periods where anxiety was far more debilitating and impossible to hide.

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Along the way, there were plenty of what I like to call painful character development moments, which ultimately made me one of the easiest people to talk to. I’m very much a been there, done that, got the t-shirt, went back for the commemorative mug kind of therapist — and I take anxiety seriously because I know how quietly devastating it can be when it runs your life.

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What that means for you is this: you will never feel judged here. You will never be too much, too weird, too loud, too quiet, or “not enough.” You belong exactly as you are (just… ideally with less anxiety).

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​Professionally, I bring 19 years of clinical experience as a Licensed Professional Counselor. My training includes advanced education in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy through the Beck Institute, along with certification as a Certified Clinical Anxiety Treatment Professional (CCATP), Certified Clinical Trauma Professional (CCTP), and Certified in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (C-DBT). My work is grounded in evidence-based care and integrates CBT, DBT, and ERP-informed approaches, particularly for anxiety, panic, and obsessive thought patterns.

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Focus areas include:

• Social anxiety

• PTSD / trauma

• Obsessive-compulsive disorder

• Panic attacks

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On a personal note, I grew up in Texas as a first-generation American and have spent most of my 40+ years in the Austin area. I’m a UT Longhorn and completed my master’s degree at St. Edward’s University.

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Outside of work, I’m a longtime Broadway musical fan (Dear Evan Hansen, Into the Woods, and Heathers are favorites), a committed Seinfeld super fan, and a fiercely proud mom of four (ages 9–23). I also have six adopted FeLV cats — which is exactly as chaotic as it sounds.