Hello!  My name is Amy, and I'm a Registered Drama Therapist/Board Certified Trainer and Clinical Mental Health Counselor.

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I grew up among the beautiful forests of northern Minnesota just outside of a small community of 250 people. My life there revolved around nature, creative play, theatre, and learning. After graduating from high school I moved to Dickinson, ND where, in 2010, I got my Bachelor of Science degrees in History Education and Theatre Education and my teaching license with the state of North Dakota.

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After speaking with my brother, a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, I realized that I could use my love of the theatre arts to work with soldiers and veterans. I soon learned that there was this thing called Drama Therapy, and in May of 2014 I graduated from Kansas State University with my Master of Arts in Theatre, with a concentration in Drama Therapy. During my internships there and in my work after leaving, I have found enjoyed working with many populations.

During my time at K-State, I worked with children on the autism spectrum in an after school program called "Acting For Fun" and with an organization called "Barrier Free Theatre," which gives adults with and without disabilities the opportunity to create and perform their own original play. I was a member of the Play it Forward: Playback Theatre Company, my thesis explored the use of tabletop role-playing games with college students with and without disabilities to build life and social skills, and I continued to explore the healing power of theatre through an ethnodrama I wrote based on a family's experience with PTSD after their soldier returned home from Iraq.

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Since graduating and moving to the Fargo Moorhead Area, I have worked at an Intensive Residential Treatment Center and with Lost and Found Recovery Center in Moorhead, MN, visiting various sites using Drama Therapy techniques with a variety of populations, including those at treatment centers and students in schools. I traveled to Salina, KS to work with children on the autism spectrum, to St Cloud, MN to work with a Music Therapist at the Veteran Affairs Medical Center teaching veterans improvisation and acting, and served as production manager for the Village Playback Theatre Company from New York City when they visited Manhattan, KS for Community Cultural Harmony Week.

I worked as an Expressive Therapist in the Activity Therapy Department at Prairie St. John's Psychiatric Hospital in Fargo, ND, where I completed my hours to receive my Registered Drama Therapist credential in 2017. There I worked with children, adolescents, and adults on inpatient units. I went back to Lost and Found Recovery Center and their sister organization reGROUP, working in many capacities both in the office and with clients and those in addiction recovery. After spending 18 months at Fraser, Ltd. as the Youth Transitional Services Program Administrator, I decided it was time to go back to school and received a Master of Education in Clinical Mental Health Counseling in May 2022 from North Dakota State University. I am currently working on my Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision at North Dakota State University.

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As a counselor and drama therapist, I believe in a holistic, relational approach to working with clients. I am a generalist practitioner with interest in mood disorders, trauma, military affiliated populations, first responder populations, and relational work. I have an eclectic theoretical orientation with a preference for Relational Cultural, Motivational Interviewing, Solution Focused Brief Therapy, and Narrative approaches; I believe in working with clients in ways that work best for them. I also am a geek culture therapist. I have many geeky interests and have found them to be a helpful tool in relating with and working through concerns with clients who also identify as geeks. I have completed Safe Zone trainings, telehealth trainings, DBT training, EMDR Basic Training, and hold a Clinical Military Counseling Certificate.