Hello! I’m Marie (she/her)

I’ve grown up in the Grand Rapids area since I was 8-years old but don’t be fooled, my family is from all over the United States. I’ve traveled a lot within and outside of the States, interacting and experiencing wonderfully diverse people and places including living in Canada and New Zealand as a child; multiple trips to southern Louisiana interacting with the Houma Indians and doing research; volunteer work in Mexico; volunteer work on Skid Row in LA for a month; and a trip to Hong Kong to visit family.

I was diagnosed with ADHD when I was 8 and later discovered an auditory-visual learning disability. It’s been a long journey discovering how my own brain works and learns, and an honor to help others do the same.

I went for my Masters degree in 2013 after working for 6+ years with the homeless, in-home work with kids, residential mental health treatment, and neurobehavioral rehab in adult foster care homes. Through previous experiences, I recognized my intense desire to help people see and value themselves and not define themselves by their past or their challenges.

I completed my Masters in 2016 and have worked as a therapist for over 8-years doing specializing in complex and acute trauma, substance abuse, anxiety, and adults with emotionally unavailable parents. I have been featured on 5 podcasts regarding my work helping people heal after growing up with an emotionally unavailable parent, and I have been published in Authority Magazine on the roots of “people-pleasing”

I am divorced and re-married and have a teenage step-son and preschooler. We love to go camping and bike riding together in the warm months and look forward to Wheatland Music Festival in Remis, MI at the beginning of September.

I am actively involved in the Grand Rapids Food Co-op Initiative. We are working to open a community-owned grocery store to to fight food apartheid in Grand Rapids, MI. Co-ops values people over profits, keep money local, and support and partner with local farms and producers.