About Rose
I'm a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor who works with children and teens navigating anxiety, screen dependence, emotional challenges, difficult transitions, and experiences that are hard to put into words.
My approach isn't traditional. I don't follow a script or a standard protocol. I meet each child where they actually are and use whatever works to help them open up, get present, and start working through what they're carrying.
An Unconventional Path
My path into this work isn't the typical one. I hold a Master of Fine Arts from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and a Master's degree in Counseling and Psychological Services from Saint Mary's University of Minnesota. The artist's eye and the clinician's training come together in everything I do.
What I learned as an artist is that the first step to healing or changing is to be seen and known, both by yourself and by others. Hands-on, experiential work offers a way for that to happen authentically, whether it's through art, building something, or exploring the outdoors. My clinical training gives me the framework to guide that process therapeutically. The combination is what makes this practice different.
Why Children
Kids don't have context for their experience the way adults do. They tend to internalize what's happening around them, good and bad, and they don't always have the tools to make sense of it. That's why early support matters. It's easier to help children reconnect with themselves while they're still young, before habits harden and walls go up.
I also just love working with kids. My approach is playful, interactive, and sometimes funny. Even when we're processing the most difficult aspects of a child's life, it can be fun. And honestly, it should be, or it doesn't really work with kids.
Meeting Every Kind of Kid
My experience working in schools and community settings has given me the chance to work with children of many types and temperaments: from kids who are immediately open and willing to be vulnerable, to those who are quiet and guarded, to those who are restless or resistant. None of that scares me. Drawing those kids out is one of my strengths. If your child isn't the type who would sit still for a traditional therapy session, that's okay. That might actually be a good reason to be here.
What I Believe
Every child has something capable and entirely their own inside of them. It's there no matter what they're going through or how they're showing up right now, even when it's buried under screens, anxiety, pressure, or pain.
A lot of growing up today means learning to perform, to optimize, to stay plugged in. Kids are overscheduled and overstimulated, but underconnected to themselves, to the physical world, to the people around them. For kids who are also carrying stress, trauma, or difficult experiences, that disconnection runs even deeper.
I don't see children as things that need to be fixed or fit into a mold. My job is to pay close attention to the child and to find the right experience that helps them come back to themselves. Sometimes that's getting their hands in clay. Sometimes it's walking along a creek. Sometimes it's building something they didn't think they could build.
The method matters less than the moment. When a child who's been guarded starts to open up, when something clicks and you can see them becoming present and engaged, that's what this practice is built around.
Credentials
- Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC)
- Master of Fine Arts, School of the Art Institute of Chicago
- Master's degree, Counseling and Psychological Services, Saint Mary's University of Minnesota
- Ongoing training in experiential therapy, developmental approaches, and creative process in psychotherapy