Tinamarie is a native of Washington state, although spent much of her childhood and early adulthood, moving around due to military service of her father, herself and later her spouse.  After both she and her spouse discharged from the military, they settled in Washington State and raised their family. 

Utilizing her educational benefits from her service, Tinamarie attended Green River College and Pacific Lutheran University.  Her studies focused on criminal justice and psychology.  She graduated from Pacific Lutheran University with a Bachelor’s of Science in Psychology.   Immediately following her undergraduate studies, she worked with the Department of Veteran Affairs mental health department in the Center of Excellence for Substance Abuse Treatment (CESATE) where she began her interest in the complexities of mental health, trauma, substance abuse and veterans.  This interest led her to a Master’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Washington Tacoma.

After completing her Master’s degree, Tinamarie explored additional areas of her field to deepen her understanding of mental health and human services, working with the State of Washington in their Department of Health as well as their Children’s Services Administration.  These experiences deepened the awareness of the relationship between life transitions, substance abuse, and mental health.  Tinamarie returned to the VA, working in residential care for substance abuse.  Her interest in the origins of substance abuse brought her to Texas to work directly in trauma recovery with active-duty soldiers and later with the VA in Austin.

Today, Tinamarie is focused on how our early and current life experiences and inner dialogue affect our abilities to manage routine and unique life transitions. These can result in unhealthy and unwanted reactions and behaviors, such as anger, substance abuse, avoidance, paralyzing fear and anxiety, overwhelm, and unrelenting depression.

In her leisure time, she enjoys DIY home projects, being outdoors, traveling, hiking with her husband, and spending time with their three grown children and their young families.