GET TO KNOW ME

My Goal: Helping You Embrace Grace for Yourself

Hi! My name is Tara. I grew up in a small town in north central South Dakota. Growing up I was involved in many activities including with my school and church. I have always enjoyed approaching things from a team aspect and knew I wanted a career that I could work alongside people to help make a difference in their life. In high school whenever I was asked what I was going to college for I kept telling everyone, "I don't know what I want to do, I just know that I want to help people."

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I chose to attend college at South Dakota State University (SDSU) and majored in Human Development and Family Studies. I loved learning about how our families and experiences shape who we become. I found it interesting how we could look at how children play and what they play with to help to understand them better. Because of these experiences in my undergrad classes, I knew that I wanted to continue to learn more about these things, so I went on to attend graduate school for Clinical Mental Health Counseling at SDSU as well. (Go Big, Go Blue, Go Jacks!) In grad school I was able to further my understanding of family systems, group therapy, career counseling, and individual therapy. I completed grad school by doing an eight month long internship at a non-profit organization working with adults and teens in outpatient and inpatient substance use programs. During this time I was also able to shadow the organizations play therapist and learned many things from her as well. 

After I completed grad school I have spent the last seven years working with co-occurring disorders (mental health and substance use) in clients. I have worked with adults and teenagers throughout this time and have experience doing evaluations, individual sessions, group therapy, family therapy, and marriage therapy. Three of those years I worked solely with adolescent clients in Inpatient and Outpatient setting for substance use, but also included mental health disorders and behavioral concerns. 

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After college I married my high school sweetheart. We started dating when we were 16 and have enjoyed working together to watch our dreams become realities. We live on the outer edge of Sioux Falls with our two daughters and our dog Cooper.  We enjoy spending time with family and friends, going camping, boating and fishing, going for walks, exploring new places with our girls, and just having cozy weekends at home. 

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As a licensed Mental Health Therapist and Licensed Addictions Counselor, I am committed to the well-being of all my clients. I truly care for all of my clients, and work diligently to help find them the answers and peace they seek.