I find it fascinating that scientists can now show us exactly how spirituality impacts our brains. My goal is to help people explore their own faith and discover tools to cope with daily struggles.

I’ve seen firsthand how prayer can shift our perspective and how traditions can keep us grounded.
Beliefs and practices give us meaning and hope amid the darker times in our lives, and contemporary mental health research is finally catching up to the deep-rooted wisdom of spiritual traditions.

I also write a monthly newsletter and offer speaking and teaching engagements on spirituality and mental health.
I love exploring the big questions of meaning, hope, and connection that shape our faith and well-being.

My book, Sacred Balance: How Ancient Practices Can Restore Modern Minds, was published this year through the partnership of YCWI and Chalice Press. It explores nine spiritual practices that have proven benefits for mental well-being.

The easiest way to describe my ministry is the intersection of faith and mental health. This phrase encompasses both my day job, as a chaplain at an inpatient psychiatric hospital, and my writing passion.

My students make me hopeful in the possibility of a better world everyday and I thank God for their vision, their creativity and their leadership!

This program shows what it means to love thy neighbor up close, and nurturing it for the benefit of my fantastic, resilient and compassionate student body is one of the proudest parts of my call.

These resources include shelf stable food, produce, hygiene products and career ready clothing at no cost to the student.

I also oversee our basic needs hub on campus, with the help of dedicated student workers and a graduate assistant. This program fosters and nurtures community partnerships (many of them with local congregations) to help offer supplemental care to our student body.

There is a lot I love about the work I get to do, but I particularly love getting to work with students on matters of vocational discernment, as they contemplate their gifts, skills, values and talents, looking for places where these might be used to help heal a wounded and hurting world.

In my role, I get to oversee all student religious life organizations from a variety of traditions, plan and connect students with opportunities for service and create and teach courses to bolster religious and cultural competency in my context.

I serve as the university chaplain, director of community engagement and lecturer of religious studies at Converse University in Spartanburg, SC.