Hi there, I’m Sam! 👋🏻 I’m a positive psychology coach and writer based in Portland, OR. 🌿
When I started my own mental health journey ten years ago, I thought the process would be simple. I’d talk to a therapist, take an antidepressant, and *POOF!* my life would magically sort itself out.
While these tools have been essential in my healing, they still missed a critical part of the equation: helping me to build a life that I actually wanted to be a part of.
I had learned a lot in therapy. But I was still overwhelmed when it came to applying it all to my daily life.
I knew how to manage — but I didn’t yet know how to live.
I wanted routines, structure, and confidence moving through my life. I wanted to be the person who woke up early to meditate, kept a planner and a clean house, or at the very least, could reply to his emails instead of avoiding his inbox.
I wanted to stop feeling like each day was an uphill battle with my brain. So I became an expert in supporting people with those same challenges.
I have a passion for helping LGBTQ+ people (and their allies!) navigate their mental health more skillfully through the use of resiliency coaching.
As a positive psychology practitioner, I specialize in supporting clients with executive dysfunction, including clients with ADHD, OCD, depression, and/or anxiety,
There’s a difference between getting by and truly living. As a coach, I teach people how to thrive.
Being an adult with a neurodivergent brain is stressful. But it doesn’t have to be.
Ever feel like you’re sort of just winging the whole “adulting” thing? I know what it’s like to have more lemons than you can possibly make lemonade with. 🍋 That’s why I’m here.
I became a resiliency coach and peer professional because, like you, I needed support that didn’t exist in our current mental health system.
While a therapist will peel you back like an emotional onion, my job as a resiliency coach is to build you back up.
This is about more than healing. It’s about gaining new skills and tools to build a life that you’re actually excited to be living.
My approach is a unique blend of positive psychology with a trauma-informed, social justice lens.
I’ve studied with world-renowned experts through the School of Positive Transformation, and I also tap into my own lived experience as a queer, nonbinary person living with ADHD/OCD.
Does this sound familiar?
My clients often describe themselves as “chronically stuck,” battling a vicious cycle of procrastination, overwhelm, and self-sabotage.
- I don’t know how anyone manages to stick to a routine. I’m lucky if I remember to brush my teeth in the morning.
- I’ve always thought of myself as being ambitious, but every time I try to start something, I just… freeze.
- Procrastinating makes me miserable. So why do I keep doing it?
- No matter what I try, I always end up feeling too overwhelmed to function.
You might be dealing with something I call “panic by a million paper cuts” — seemingly small, everyday emotional injuries (the missed deadline, the pile of dishes in the sink, the unscheduled appointments, the unused planners) that wear down your self-esteem and sense of efficacy overtime.
Let’s build a life worth living.
You deserve to do more than just “cope.” You deserve to thrive. ☀️
For anyone who’s wondering if their daily life will be a constant tug-of-war with their brain: I’ve got you. 🧠
This one’s for the late-sleepers who never wake up early enough to meditate.
For the walking tornadoes whose clothes never make it to the laundry hamper.
For the perfectionists who can’t escape the spiral of avoidance until the night before.
For the therapy veterans who know what to do in theory, but are still hitting a wall.
Hey, guess what? I’ve been there, too. And that’s why I can’t wait to show you the way out.