Gottman Method Couples Therapy Level 1 Training Certificate of Completion

Certificate of Completion from ReStory™ Institute Level I, 2, 4, and 5

Undergraduate Degree in Ministry from Covenant Theological Seminary

20 years full-time ministry as Pastor, Church Planter, and Missionary

14 years of Pastoral Counseling

The way we feel and the patterns we live in are almost always related to other, older places in our hearts and stories. Those places are like holy ground to me. It is in the wilds of your soul that God has been working and weaving together a glorious narrative. Those same wild places also hold evidence of evil's conspiracy to destroy you and deface the image of God within you. I imagine Storywork as a journey into the wilderness of your heart where untold stories can finally be told, where your pain, loss, and struggles are understood in a new way, and where the work of God and the work of evil are discovered and embraced or disinvited.

I will serve as a guide along the way, but you get to choose the terrain. Always moving at your pace, we courageously and kindly answer questions like, “What has it been like to be you?” The answers to these questions will certainly lead us through all sorts of terrain. I imagine we will walk through peaceful and lovely valleys as well as dark and treacherous thickets. We may even find ourselves knee-deep in a stagnant swamp. I will be honored to walk with you through whatever we find, be that joy, delight, anger, shame, or fear. As daunting as this work may seem, there is so much hope and even joy along the journey to wholeness. And you don’t have to walk those paths alone - we will find the way together.

By now you may have noticed that I am a follower of Jesus. You don’t have to be. I am here to meet you wherever you find yourself in terms of faith. Many of my clients are Christians. Some used to be. Others have different beliefs or no belief at all.

I grew up surrounded by the dense forests of western Oregon. The endless acres of trees, ferns, moss, and the far off sound of the North Santiam River provided the backdrop to a boyhood full of adventure. It was there that I turned my heart toward God, and it was there that I began to understand that the world is not as perfect as the patch of forest I grew up in seemed to be.

At the age of 17 I left home for seminary and never looked back. Along the way I led a church in Northern Colorado, pastored angsty youth in Texas, huddled in the rain with persecuted believers in Myanmar, survived a massive earthquake in San Salvador, and served alongside women battling AIDS in East Africa. I’ve sung and danced joyfully with believers in Oregon and buried friends who died of malaria in Malawi. I’ve tasted more joy and glory and shame and loss than I knew was possible that day when I first left home.

Today I live in southwest Missouri with my wife Rachel and our three children. Our house backs up to a peaceful farm grazed by cows, wild turkeys, coyotes, and owls. When I’m not walking in the wilderness of the soul with Restoration Counseling I can often be found walking alongside men in the wilderness of the earth through Restoration Project, where I serve as the Director of Restorative Experiences.

50-minute Session - $140

80-minute Session - $210