My Approach

Hi there! I'm Jill. I am so glad that you are considering inviting me on your wellness journey. I want to be your guide, your teacher, and your encourager.

I am the product of a Montessori educator and an engineer. A key practice in Montessori education is "Teach me to do it myself." Therefore with each person or group that I work with, I want to equip you to have the tools, resources, and know-how to eventually do your own healing work. That doesn't mean I will boot you before you are ready. It just means that my goal is to work myself out of a job because you will be equipped to carry on without the level of support you currently need. The engineering side of my upbringing is apparent after our first few sessions when I will lay out a plan of how to get from your current state to the place you wish to be.

My Background

I am a 2001 graduate of Texas Tech University where I completed a rigorous degree plan that prepared me perfectly for seminary - a Bachelor's degree in Mathematics. [cue laughter] While the Math degree did not at all actually prepare me for seminary, it has been a very effective tool in my ministry toolbox. I have taught high school math for public schools in two states, private schools, tutored a bunch and even had the honor of helping to educate a homeschooling family of girls across disciplines. I am excellent at classroom management as well as developing and executing a lesson plan. That all comes in handy when creating treatment plans for clients of all ages and in interacting with church congregations. (They are just larger classrooms of older teenagers after all.)

I graduated in 2005 from both Truett Seminary with a Master of Divinity degree and from Baylor University with a Master of Science in Education with a specialization in Educational Psychology. And then I went back to teach math in a high school setting because life is fun that way. I taught at the on-campus school for a children's home and loved every single second of it. There I gained invaluable insight into the lives of teenagers including family function and dysfunction, mental wellness and mental illness, every kind of abuse, neglect, gangs, drugs, loneliness, low self esteem, resiliency, perseverance and so much more. I knew from that moment forward that teenagers were always going to be my favorite group of humans on the earth. And now twenty years later, they still are.

I have served churches since 1998 across four states including Texas, Montana, North Carolina and Alabama in a variety of ministry capacities including minster to children, youth, college students, graduate students, families, and music as well as serving as consultant, counselor and preacher. I've also been the spouse of a pastor for 17 years and have been a member of Baptist churches since cradle roll. In 2019, I was trained as a church consultant by the Center for Congregational Health in Winston-Salem, NC. I was ordained in 2020 by Crosscreek Baptist Church in Pelham, AL. All this to say, I'm an expert when it comes to congregational life and can help both those who are in ministry as well as the congregations in which they serve.

I currently serve as the Executive Director of Texas Baptist Women in Ministry, an organization of women and men that seeks to inspire women in ministry through affirmation, connection, and advocacy. I am married to Brandon and am the mother to two children. Our family of four plus two dogs resides in Abilene, Texas.