Photo: Raygen Samone

Education & Background

I’m a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in both Minnesota and Hawaiʻi, with a deep appreciation for both the science and the art of healing.

My journey began in the creative world—I first studied studio art at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa before eventually finding my way to the field of mental health. I hold a PhD in Family Social Science with a specialization in Couples and Family Therapy from the University of Minnesota, a Master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from the University of Wisconsin–Stout, and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

My clinical expertise sits at the intersection of complex trauma, substance use, family systems, and criminal justice involvement. When I first began therapy, I worked doing in-home family therapy with families involved with Child Protection. This experience deeply shaped my belief in the resilience of humans, the capacity for families to change and the power of healing relationally through family therapy. I also worked on an on-campus training clinic at UW-Stout serving both students and the community offering free and low fee therapy. For the better part of the past decade, I have worked with individuals and families involved in the criminal justice system. I worked in a residential substance abuse program for men and women providing group therapy, individual therapy, and couples/family therapy. Finally, prior to my current venture into private practice, I co-founded and served as the Executive Director of Minnesota Trauma Recovery Institute, a Minneapolis based nonprofit whose mission was to heal the legacy of trauma in families involved in the criminal justice system through mental health care, training and education, and community based research.

Clinical Approach

I draw heavily from experiential family therapy, interpersonal neurobiology, internal family systems, and somatic/embodied approaches to healing. I’m trained in Narrative Exposure Therapy (NET), an evidence-based treatment for complex trauma, and I serve on the U.S. training team for NET. I’m also trained in TheraPlay—a parent-child intervention rooted in modern attachment and polyvagal theory.

My therapeutic style is grounded, relational, and engaged. I bring warmth, authenticity, and a willingness to challenge when it’s needed. I believe meaningful change happens at the intersection of nurture and challenge—too much comfort without accountability can leave us stuck, while too much push without care can feel overwhelming or invalidating. I strive to hold both: creating a space that feels safe enough to explore the hard things and bold enough to support real transformation.

While symptom relief is often part of the process, I aim for deeper, lasting change. I work with individuals and families to identify the core patterns that are no longer serving them and support them in doing the vulnerable and often uncomfortable work of shifting those patterns at the root.

Supervision & Research

As a supervisor, I’m approved by AAMFT and state boards in Minnesota (Minnesota Board of MFT and the BBHT) and meet state requirements in Hawaiʻi to support pre-licensed clinicians. My style as a supervisor mirrors my clinical work: relational, developmentally attuned, and rooted in systems thinking. I see supervision as a collaborative space to build clinical skill, deepen self-of-the-therapist awareness, and explore the layered dynamics that show up in the therapy room. See supervision section for more information about my philosophy of supervision and supervision services. I also offer supervision of supervision for those pursuing the AAMFT Approved Supervisor designation, supporting candidates in developing a grounded, reflective, and relational approach to supervisory work.

As a researcher, my work focuses on improving mental health outcomes for individuals involved in the criminal legal system—particularly parents who have experienced incarceration.

Beyond the Therapy Room

Outside of therapy, I carry identities that deeply inform how I show up in the world. I’m a mother through birth, foster care, and adoption, —each path has stretched and shaped me in profound ways. Parenting continues to teach me what it means to love fiercely, stay grounded amidst uncertainty, and offer grace—to my children and to myself.

I come from a multiracial family with six children, woven together by adoption and love. That early experience of belonging across difference gave me a deep reverence for the complexity of family, identity, and resilience.

I’m also a person of deep faith. My spirituality is the quiet current that keeps me rooted in compassion, humility, and connection, both in and outside the therapy room.

When I’m not working, you’ll likely find me with my family—soaking in the beauty of Oʻahu’s waters, reading something soul-stirring, cooking a nourishing meal, writing, or getting lost in music. These everyday joys help ground and restore me.

I bring my whole self into the therapy room: warm and attuned, direct when needed, sometimes playful, always real. It’s an honor to walk alongside people through the sacred, messy mix of life’s pains and joys.