About me

Deep Lindon roots

I grew up in Lindon like the six generations of my family before me. I went to Lindon Elementary, Oak Canyon Junior High, and Pleasant Grove High School. 

I grew up on the same street as my extended family. I was only a short walk away from my great-grandparents, grandparents, aunts/uncles, and a gaggle of cousins. 

My family and the wonderful people of Lindon have shaped me.

My ancestors have been involved in the community for multiple generations because they loved this place and its people. I love Lindon and want to see it thrive for generations to come.


...go forth to serve

I am a first generation college student. I worked my way through college and graduated with a degree in social work from BYU.


Master's degree

After graduating from BYU, I moved to Massachusetts for graduate school. I graduated with a Master's Degree in Social Work (MSW) from the Smith College School for Social Work. My training focused on providing mental health counseling services.


"...we'll get a little place in Harlem..."

I lived and worked in New York City as a social worker for seven years. I worked in the West Village, in East New York Brooklyn, in the Upper Eastside, and in Harlem providing mental health services to children, teens, adults, couples, and families. 

I met my amazing wife in NYC and we started our family there (we now have four daughters and two sons).  She was an attorney working in mid-town Manhattan.

PhD

While I was working in Harlem, I began supervising graduate students in their clinical internships. I found that I loved teaching them how to be effective helpers. I re-engaged in research because I viewed it as another way to help individuals and communities.

I returned to school so that I could become a professor. I was accepted into a top school of social work and awarded a fellowship from the National Institute of Mental Health to study mental health services.

I graduated with a PhD from Washington University in St. Louis.  

Home again

I am now a faculty member in the School of Social Work at BYU. I am in the office of my retired BYU mentor. I teach students in the MSW program, I conduct research on how we can help individuals and communities thrive, by getting what works to people who need it more rapidly, equitably, and lastingly. I stay close to my practice roots by maintaining a small mental health private practice.

We're back in Lindon. I live 2 minutes away from my childhood home. My kids are now a walk away from their great-grandparents, grandparents and cousins. They are attending the same schools I attended. I feel so grateful that their lives will be shaped by the wonderful people of Lindon just like mine was.