Therapist Profile
Sharon Lotz, LIMHP
Nursing: B.S.N from University of Washington
Education: M.Ed from Washington State University
Counseling: M.S. in Ed in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Wayne State College
Sharon Lotz is a Licensed Independent Mental Health Practitioner, who comes to the counseling arena because of her personal journey, in addition to walking alongside others in their journeys. The journey metaphor is her story.
Sharon’s life encompasses a diverse background and professional history. As a third culture kid, she was born and raised in the Amazon jungle. She relocated to the U.S. from the Brazilian Amazon in the days when cell phones and email did not exist, and it was almost impossible to “go home.” She obtained her nursing degree from the University of Washington and worked at Children’s Hospital in Seattle with very sick teens dealing with a variety of challenges. After graduation, she spent two years back in the Amazon teaching at a boarding school for missionary children, and later obtained her Master’s in Education degree from Washington State University. The quest to wrestle with difficult questions brought her to Nebraska, where she worked as a registered nurse in a family practice clinic before becoming a teacher and administrator in a small Christian school.
Through the years, Sharon has experienced both the joys and challenges of working in a variety of professional systems–medical, education, counseling, and business. She has discovered that professional structures, employment environment, and family and relational circumstances seldom offer a safe place for transparency and struggle; she has recognized that there is too often a dissonance between “thinking” what one knows and “living” in the reality of what takes place in one’s heart. Sharon found a unique “safe space” to ask hard questions and deal with her own story and journey. As she gained tools for better emotional health, she has passed them on to others, and others began to approach her with their own questions and challenging stories. To be more effective and professionally qualified, Sharon pursued a Master’s degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Wayne State College.
As a trained therapist, she has established a private counseling practice with a strong desire to provide the same type of “safe space” that she has been given. Contact Sharon if you would like assistance in beginning or continuing your own journey.