I want to share my story and how I found myself on this path in life: not just for prospective clients but to also maybe be a source of inspiration for others.  

So…

It all started when I was 16 years old.  I was a happy and excited teenager.  I felt like I was on top of the world:  I had just won battle of the bands, I had a lot of friends at school, people seemed to like me, I had my driver’s license and the new sense of freedom, I was to entering my senior year of high school…and then it was all snatched away from me. 

I was having weird symptoms that eventually led to an accidental discovery that I had brain cancer.  The long road that followed started with brain surgery and then radiation and a year of chemotherapy.  I lost most of my “friends,” I missed my senior year, my body was drastically different than it was prior to the diagnosis, and I felt like a shadow of who I was.  When treatment ended in the summer after graduating high school, I was eager to jump back into life.  I took on a job and started college about a month after my last chemo treatment (my eye brows were half grown back in my college ID photo). 

I had chosen to be a computer science major simply because I liked video games and thought I could make a lot of money—typical teenage boy ideals (I still love video games but my goal in life is no longer to be a millionaire).  I was essentially trying to learn a foreign language with “chemo brain” (which I did not know would last beyond treatment).

Things quickly went downhill as I began to experience significant mental health symptoms.  My self esteem was gone and I had frequent and random periods of crying. I had my first panic attack and then some more (and each one felt like I was dying).  I felt completely hopeless and helpless.  I even wondered what the point of having gone through all of this even was.  

It all came to a head during my “Wish come true” trip that they gift you after having childhood cancer.  I chose a cruise for my family because I wanted us to have a nice vacation after a tumultuous year and half.  While there were fun moments of the trip, I continued to experience the above mental health symptoms.  Towards the end of the trip, I went to my mother’s room and, without saying a word, burst into tears.  I was depressed.  I didn’t know what to do and I had been trying to hide this from everyone so I could pretend to be happy to be alive.  I agreed that when we got back I would see a therapist—an idea that was foreign to me and I was doubtful it could be of any help.

Oh, how wrong I was.  This was one of the best decisions of my life (thanks mom).  I immediately knew that THIS is what I wanted to do for work as it was meaningful, it was a more direct way to help others, and I felt confident about being able to do this work—I had hope.  I realized that I no longer saw money as the biggest  factor in choosing a career.  I wanted to help people like I was helped.  And so I began to get the steps in motion to change my major to psychology.  Fast forward through many obstacles and battles with anxiety and here I am today.  Just a regular guy who happens to also be a licensed therapist. 

What a long, strange trip it’s been.