EDUCATION
- Springfield College – MEd, Counseling
- Lesley University – BA, Liberal Studies
At their core, Landon believes deeply in the therapeutic value of play. While growing up, they played sports and personally experienced the suffering that can come from performance anxiety, which became a barrier to finding fun, joy, and play in their life. They distinctly remember the ride home with their team after a soccer game during their senior year, crying and feeling completely alone. In that moment, they decided to quit the sport they had loved and played since they were four years old because they felt so stuck and had no idea how to escape their suffering.
In college, Landon reconnected with their love of play through Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and made the choice to no longer let anxiety keep them from the things they loved. They began learning about the mental and emotional sides of performance and were hooked. They had finally found the practices that helped cultivate freedom from the things that had ensnared their life. They went on to study sport psychology, positive psychology, mindfulness, and counseling while practicing these skills in their own life and sport. This journey of self-discovery ultimately led them to become a therapist, helping others on their own journeys of healing.
Landon has more than ten years of experience working in youth and young adult mental health across residential, wilderness, hospital, educational, athletic, and community-based settings. They are excited to be part of the Mountain Valley community, where they can bring their own unique style and personality to support residents in doing the same.
As an experiential therapist, Landon combines traditional talk therapy with experiential modalities such as games, sports, adventure, movement, expressive and creative arts, mindfulness, animals, nature, and exposure work, helping residents integrate treatment into all aspects of their lives. Through years of working with young people, they have found that creative and personalized approaches that foster love, fun, play, adventure, and creativity help residents become more engaged and connected in treatment, allowing those same qualities to re-emerge in their everyday lives.
In their free time, Landon enjoys spending time in nature, practicing yoga, reading sci-fi and fantasy, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, working out, playing card, board, and tabletop role-playing games, and watching all kinds of TV shows and movies. They also love animals and will take a moment in their day to pet any animal they can.