"Before I was a counselor, I was a paramedic and a firefighter."

The first call I ever ran, I was 19. Someone's worst day. Someone's last day. You learn quick that being there matters more than knowing what to say.

Years in the back of an ambulance and on the truck taught me the same thing counseling taught me later: people don't need to be rescued. They need to be witnessed. They need someone to stay calm while their world is on fire.

I went back to school. Psychology. Fire Science. Then a master's in Mental Health Counseling. The license followed. The mission didn't change. The tools did.

I'm still a first responder. Still showing up when things fall apart. Counseling just gave me another way to do that. I grew up in Florida, became a dad as a teenager, and I've lived enough of real life to know what it actually feels like: co-parenting, working long hours, feeling like you're drowning, toxic relationships, being raised by a single parent. I'm not reading about those things from a textbook. I've been there. That's what I bring into the room with you.