About Adam
Since 2007, I've had the privilege of walking alongside people as they navigate some of life's most challenging, meaningful, and transformative experiences. As a counselor, educator, and clinical supervisor, I am honored to support people in identifying where they want to be and exploring what it might take to get there. Whether I'm working with clients or supervising the next generation of counselors, I believe meaningful change begins with feeling understood. I strive to cultivate spaces between us where authenticity, curiosity, and connection can flourish, opening the door to deeper self-understanding and greater alignment with the life you want to live.
Beyond my professional roles, I am first and foremost a husband and a father. The experiences that have shaped me extend beyond those roles as well. As a queer man, an autistic person, and someone with ADHD (AuDHD), I've spent much of my life learning to understand, appreciate, and accept (still working on this one!) parts of myself that didn't always fit comfortably within the expectations of the world around me. Along the way, I've discovered that many of the qualities that once felt different have also become sources of resilience, insight, creativity, and connection. Those experiences have deepened my appreciation for the complexity of being human and continue to influence the curiosity, compassion, and respect I bring to my work with others.
A Little More of Who I Am
I share my home with three rescue dogs, each with their own story and their own way of being in the world.
I would rather be genuine than polished.
I believe there is room for humor in counseling.
I named my AuDHD in my 40s. It helped me make sense of a lot.
I believe we are the experts on our own lives.
Licenses & Credentials
-
The highest level of professional counseling licensure in Illinois, authorizing me to independently provide counseling services, assess and diagnose mental health conditions, develop treatment plans, and provide clinical supervision to counseling professionals and counselors-in-training.
-
A professional counseling license in Missouri authorizing me to independently provide counseling services, assess and diagnose mental health conditions, develop treatment plans, and provide clinical supervision to counseling professionals and counselors-in-training. -
Board-certified by the National Board for Certified Counselors, demonstrating a commitment to rigorous national standards in education, training, examination, and professional practice.
-
An advanced board certification recognizing specialized expertise, training, and experience in clinical mental health counseling.
-
A professional credential recognizing advanced training and expertise in supervising, mentoring, and developing counselors throughout their professional growth.
-
A professional designation recognizing significant professional achievement, leadership, and expertise in grief, loss, death, and bereavement.
How I Practice
I believe people deserve a place where they can show up as themselves.
I bring education, experience, and clinical training to our work, but more importantly, I bring curiosity and a willingness to listen. You are the person who knows your life. My role is to meet you with respect, take your experiences seriously, and make room for you to be honest about who you are and what matters to you.
I also believe that people cannot be separated from the world around them. Our identities, cultures, relationships, communities, bodies, and experiences of belonging or exclusion can shape how we move through the world and how we experience ourselves.
That is why the following are not simply statements about what I believe. They are commitments to how I want to practice.
I believe in an antiracist practice.
I recognize that racism is real and that it impacts people’s lives, relationships, opportunities, communities, and experiences of mental health.
I do not want to ask you to leave those experiences at the door.
If you have experienced racism or racial discrimination, I believe those experiences deserve to be taken seriously. Racism can affect a person’s safety, belonging, relationships, opportunities, and well-being. There is room here to talk about those experiences openly, without minimizing what happened or telling you how you should feel about it.
I also recognize that being an antiracist counselor is not something I can simply declare. It requires continued learning, self-reflection, listening, and a willingness to notice where I still have room to grow.
I am LGBTQIA+ affirming.
I believe people deserve to be known for who they are rather than judged against someone else’s idea of who they should be.
I welcome people of all sexual and gender identities and expressions. I respect the names and pronouns people use for themselves, and I recognize that relationships and families can take many different forms.
Sometimes it may be an important part of what we talk about. Sometimes it may not be the reason you came to counseling at all. Either way, you get to decide what matters.
I believe culture and beliefs belong in the room.
Culture, family, faith, spirituality, traditions, values, and worldview may be important parts of your life.
I will not assume that my beliefs are the right beliefs for you.
You do not have to believe what I believe for us to have a meaningful counseling relationship. My responsibility is to understand what matters to you and to respect your right to make decisions about your own life.
I believe all bodies deserve respect.
I practice from a weight-inclusive perspective.
I do not believe that a person’s worth can be measured by their weight, appearance, size, or ability to fit a particular image of health.
I believe people deserve accessible care.
Disability, illness, communication differences, and other accessibility needs should not make someone feel like they are a burden.
I will seek to understand what helps you participate comfortably in counseling. If something about the way counseling is structured is not working for you, I want you to be able to tell me.
Sometimes making space for someone begins with simply asking, “What would make this work for you?”
I am neurodiversity-affirming.
I believe there is more than one way for a brain to work, communicate, connect, learn, and experience the world.
I welcome autistic folks, people with ADHD, and people with other forms of neurodivergence.
I do not believe the goal of counseling should always be to make someone look more “typical.” Oftentimes the more important question is whether you have found ways of living, communicating, connecting, and caring for yourself that actually work for you.
There is room to talk about masking, burnout, sensory experiences, executive functioning, relationships, communication, or simply what it is like to move through a world that does not always make room for the way your brain works.
I believe our circumstances matter.
People do not live in a vacuum.
Money, housing, work, education, family responsibilities, discrimination, health care, community, and other circumstances can all affect how we feel and how we move through the world.
I do not see someone’s struggles as a personal failure. Instead of asking, “What is wrong with you?” I ask, “What has happened to you, what are you carrying, and what is happening around you?”
Sometimes understanding someone means seeking to understand the world they are living in.
The Meaning of Spaces Between
The name Spaces Between comes from the places in life where we find ourselves between things. Between where we have been and where we are going. Between knowing and wondering. Between endings and beginnings.
The logo reflects another part of that idea. The heart and brain come together as one whole, representing the many parts of ourselves that make us who we are. Our thoughts and feelings are not separate from one another. They are part of the same whole.
And then there is the space. The line beneath the logo represents a place to pause. A little room to slow down, wonder, and notice what is happening.
Spaces Between is a place to pause in those moments, with room to wonder, share what you are experiencing, and simply be yourself.
