Coaching FAQs

I work one-on-one with artists and with people who are partnered with artists or supporting artists in a caregiving role. *I don’t offer couples or joint sessions.

My coaching space is grounded in respect for the many ways people move through the world, across identities, cultures, and lived experiences.

I approach this work with care, honesty, and accountability, and I’m always open to learning where my perspective is limited. I hold awareness of the complexity of being a creative in a world that doesn’t always make room for it.

I grew up touring with my family band and moved to Nashville 15 years ago to keep up with all of the music in my life and to support my touring partner. I know the challenges of touring life a little too well: the unique pressures, the constant transitions, the relationship strain, and the toll it can take on your mental health.

If you’ve ever sat with a new therapist or mental health practitioner and spent 2 sessions explaining your life and challenges, you know how deflating that can feel. When I moved to Nashville and started “shopping” for a therapist, it took a lot of tries to find someone - even in Music City! - who was familiar with this life in a way that didn’t require me explaining post-tour re-entry, transitions, the specific fear associated with touring-partner betrayal, and managing creativity.

You shouldn’t have to pay your coach/therapist to catch them up to your lifestyle before you’ve even started the work. This life isn’t just something I’ve observed —it’s a world I’ve lived in, and continue to live in. *You don’t have to explain the complexities to me. I get it, and I would be honored to support you in it.

Coaching and therapy are both effective methods of recovery: they meet different needs and various points on the healing journey and can be powerful in collaboration with each other. Still, it’s important to note that coaching is NOT therapy, and there are significant differences between these two modalities.

Some defining parts of the coaching environment…

• PEER-TO-PEER … The client/coach relationship has distinct equality. While I am trained in trauma recovery, you are the expert on you. I view you as the leader in your own recovery process, and my task is to curate a safe space for you to feel empowered and held. Think of yourself in the driver's seat, with me co-piloting.

• C O - C R E A T I O N… I do not diagnose you, nor do I create a treatment plan. Instead, we co-create a space where you develop a compassionate understanding of what happened to you, how it has shaped your inner world, and what post-traumatic growth looks like. From there, you create your recovery goals with my support.

• L O C A T I O N… my certification allows me to work with anyone anywhere, although I do not work with minors or anyone who is actively self-harming or struggling with suicidality. Not being limited by a license in my state means I can provide Zoom support to anyone. For clients based in Nashville, I offer in-person sessions based on availability.

• C L I E N T-LED… means that we go at your pace. Always. If you are triggered or uncomfortable, all focus and goals come back to supporting your return to a felt sense of safety. This means that there can be no external agenda or timetable created for your unique healing process because it is yours alone.

• R E L I G I O U S trauma informed… if you grew up in a high control/authoritarian/fundamentalist environment, the chances are high that the messaging you were taught around therapy + seeking mental health support was not positive. Even if your beliefs about asking for help are different now, talking to a therapist can be a confronting concept since you were taught so much shame around it. Many survivors find that talking to a coach feels more accessible.

• E X P E R I E N T I A L understanding… I believe a recovery coach is most impactful at the intersection of two vital elements: training in trauma recovery AND the credibility of their lived experience. It’s my hope that my clients will feel understood on a level that only comes from working with someone who’s lived a similar story.

Life coaching focuses heavily on moving into the future and meeting set goals, and is not trauma-informed care unless the coach clearly offers that. Trauma recovery coaching is a bit of a hybrid between psychotherapy and life coaching: it doesn’t focus on the past and/or diagnoses that you may have received, but it does explore your history enough to get a landscape of your trauma and what has happened to you to understand how the past shapes your present.

This is a significant Q because the coaching world is wild west af and anyone can go online and spend nominal money to buy a course and become a coach. Being a helping professional is something I take very seriously. I have a certification as a trauma recovery coach through the International Association of Trauma Recovery Coaching (IAOTRC), and a trauma care practitioner cert through the Global Trauma Institute. These coaching programs included a combined 8 months of live training with practice groups (as opposed to a pre-recorded course), mentoring, supervision, a proctored exam, practicum, and submitting client case studies. Following completion, I am required to continue my education and complete courses for CEUs each year, attend set hours of supervision, stay current on psychoeducation, and utilize accountability and mentorship from the supervisors in my coaching community. I am committed to the ethical guidelines outlined by the GTI (here) and to coaching within my scope of competence. If I have a client who needs different or accelerated care that I can’t provide, I will support them in getting connected with the appropriate level of care.

The other (important!!) part of qualification as a practitioner is lived experience and real-life understanding. I started performing at age 5 and went on tour with my family band at 13 and have been doing it ever since. I’m a trauma survivor and I rely on music composition and writing as one of my modalities of healing. I’ve also been partnered with a globally touring artist for 20 years. I understand this life because I’ve lived it too.

A single coaching session is $90/60 minutes and $120 for a 90-minute intensive or catch-up session.

*I do offer a limited amount of sliding-scale spots per week. Qualifications are based on need and the honor system: I don’t assess your taxes or look at your personal financial status. Just mention that you need a sliding scale option in our initial call.

**Sliding scale sessions are always based on availability.

I don’t currently offer packages, but I strongly encourage a commitment to 4-6 weekly sessions with me to experience the first “wave” of transformative outcome. It’s my intention for you to have new tools and helpful restructuring after just one session. Following 5-6 sessions, the rhythm of healing and growth is palpable, and maintaining that momentum is important. Most of my clients will work with me for as long as they need to experience the breakthrough they’re looking for, and then will follow up with “tune up” sessions as they need. My goal isn’t to keep you needing me… it’s to empower you to experience your own strength as well as learn new methods of coping and adapting to stress. If you’re healing from trauma, then setting goals and giving yourself time to work toward them is even more impactful since trauma recovery is a lot about re-establishing your voice and choice.

Everything. Literally. If something matters to you, then it matters. The coaching space is a confidential, honoring space to explore as much and as deeply as you choose to go. I will follow you, but I won’t push you into talking about something you’re not ready to share. My clients have diverse relationship structures, unique cultural backgrounds, complicated band settings… I intend to approach each story and experience with curiosity and care.

*I am a mandated reporter. This means I am legally required to report any suspected abuse or neglect of a minor, elder, or dependent adult, even within a confidential setting.

“Trauma is not the thing that happens to you. It’s what happens inside of you as a result of the thing that happened.” (Gabor Maté)

Anything that happens to you that’s too much+too soon, or too little+too late can result in a trauma response. Because we each have our own “bank” of resilience and stamina for how we process what happens to us, this also means that two people in the same environment experiencing the same thing may walk out of it with very different responses.

There’s a reason everyone is talking about trauma now more than ever - we have tons of new research around how the body carries trauma long after the incident. AND we now understand that many more people experience traumatic events and keep moving forward without the care they need in large part because they compare what happened to them with an outdated clinical definition of trauma, minimizing the severity of their experience.

If you haven’t *personally experienced anything traumatic, then the chances are very high that someone important in your life has. Therapists often hold qualifications for many more issues than what any one client brings to them. If my client doesn’t require my trauma recovery training, it serves as context to provide a deeper understanding in the coaching space.

I believe every space where humans interact would benefit from having a trauma-informed approach.

*For clients who live in a marginalized or historically oppressed body, I approach with the probability that simply existing in a world that has not been consistently safe or supportive often means there’s a high likelihood of trauma. I hold that context with care.