Lya (Le-ah) is a practicum student from Concordia Irvine Univeristy’s Townsend Institute, completing her academic requirements as she pursues a master’s degree in Professional Counseling. She obtained her bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Concordia University Texas and received her master’s degree in Education, Curriculum and Instruction, from Texas State University.
Lya believes that God is our Healer, the One that satisfies our souls. Jesus is our sympathetic High Priest and is with us in our mourning and rejoicing—constantly interceding for us. She desires to be a vessel of grace, a safe person for all those she counsels as they experience God’s transforming grace and healing. Counseling through a biblical lens with the knowledge of attachment theory and emotionally-focused therapy, neuroscience, and psychological research, Lya hopes to come alongside others as they seek to be fully known and fully loved and experience the healing satisfaction that God desires to give to them.
She has experience working as a biblical mentor in a middle school and high school where she experienced working with students who have struggled with addictions, mental health issues, loss, self-harm, suicidal ideation, gender identity, faith questions, and grief. She has experience working as a middle school teacher for ten years and served students and their parents through meeting brokenness with empathy and grace and a commitment to building a trusting relationship that offers truth and grace over time. She has also served administrators, teachers, and parents as she has presented on topics of brain development and addictions, emotional intelligence, and empathy in relationships.
