I’m a freelance spiritual director based in beautiful Portland, Maine. My primary work is running a spiritual direction and supervision practice from my home, where I accompany people both online and in person.

I also serve as the co-founder and CEO of Spiritual Grounding. This project is where I get to do what I love: study the ancient wisdom of the Ignatian spiritual tradition and help make it more accessible and relevant for us and for this moment. I have the privilege of partnering in this work with my dear friend and co-conspirator Lauren Schwer, D.Min., who lives and works in Chicago, my home away from home! 

During the pandemic, Lauren & I wrote “My Life in God’s Project,”a contemporary adaptation of St. Ignatius of Loyola’s Spiritual Exercises and then adapted it into streaming audio recordings. The reflections and prayer prompts—designed for use by people who are making the thirty-week-long Spiritual Exercises in everyday life—have guided hundreds of retreatants around the country on college campuses, in parishes and congregations, and at retreat centers.

I am comfortable working with a wide range of people in spiritual direction. I have experience accompanying people of all genders, aging in range from 18-80. Typically, those who see me for spiritual direction do one of three things (and occasionally all three):

• Monthly spiritual direction

• A short retreat, whether made in a retreat center or in the midst of everyday life

• Weekly spiritual direction while making the Spiritual Exercises in Everyday Life

You may find that we are a good fit if you are looking for support: in navigating a major change in your life; in beginning to discern making a big decision; or because you have been marginalized from some toxic Christian space (you get to define what that is, not me!). 

I am comfortable working with people from a wide variety of religious backgrounds. I have spent time working and worshiping in a wide variety of Christian spaces—from a multicultural urban Baptist church and a Greek Orthodox parish to several Catholic churches and non-denominational Christian spaces. Those experiences have taught me that no one single Christian tradition has a monopoly on God. 

I have done advanced spiritual direction training in the areas of Ignatian spirituality, the Christian scriptures, bio-spiritual focusing, and mindfulness practice. When we meet together, I will often use modalities like body prayer and contemplative practices to help you bridge the gap that so often exists between our heads, our hearts, and our hands (and by extension, our bodies, too). 

You don't have to have all the answers; just a willingness to explore the questions.

My professional journey has straddled the fields of ministry and higher education. I spent over a decade working in church music and then spent over two decades working in college campus ministry at schools like Bowdoin, Cornell, Loyola Chicago, and BC. 

After singing my way through high school in rural Maine, I earned a B.M. in voice performance from Gordon College. I have served in music ministry roles at several churches, including First Baptist Church in Danvers, Mass.; Tremont Temple in Boston, Mass.; Annunciation Church in Newburyport, Mass.; and St. Nicholas Church in Evanston, Ill. 

From 2010-2013, I studied college student spiritual development while earning an M.Ed. in Religious Education from Boston College. During those same years, I met my sweetie Will—we were married the day I graduated from BC. I looked for work in the Jesuit college network and landed a great job in campus ministry at Loyola University Chicago running the Christian Life Community program (think: Ignatian-style small groups) and leading retreats from 2013-2020. While working at Loyola, I was fortunate to take coursework in Ignatian spirituality and complete a supervised spiritual direction practicum while earning a certificate in Ignatian spiritual direction.

In early 2020, just a few weeks before pandemic lockdowns began, I moved to Ithaca, New York to join Cornell’s Dean of Students team and serve as Associate Dean of Students for Spirituality & Meaning-Making and Director of Cornell United Religious Work. In many ways it was my dream job; it was not, however, a dream time to be doing that dream job. One of the few solaces of that season was spending time hiking and exploring the gorges and waterfalls that surround the Finger Lakes region. With my love of nature rekindled, I jumped at the chance to return to my beautiful home state and its familiar woods and waters when a similar position opened up at Bowdoin College in 2022.

I wrapped up my work at Bowdoin in August 2025 in order to turn my attention to being a full-time spiritual director, teacher, and retreat leader. I have been a member of Spiritual Directors International (SDI) since 2020 and also provide supervision to spiritual directors.

When I’m not working, you can usually find me tackling my personal goal of running a marathon in every state, traveling with dear friends, or enjoying simple pleasures: cooking, bird-watching, watching old episodes of The West Wing, and spending quality time with my partner, Will, and our dog, Shadow.

I look forward to connecting with you!