As an MST survivor, Bonnie has strived to makes sense of this through her healing process. This challenge became difficult for her to find others that she could relate to. As time has past, she recognized there were many resources but not a lot of individuals knew about these organizations. She is determined to bring all these sources to one location so that it makes the next warrior sister or brother of MST easier to find the help they need.
Bonnie earned her Bachelors in Social Work with honors from Florida Atlantic University in 2020 and a certificate in Child Welfare. During her time there she was to sit on the MST synopsis panel discussion at the 2020 Florida Mental Health Association Annual Conference, the 2020 Veterans Counseling Veterans – Veterans panel for Military Sexual Trauma, and the 2020 Military Sexual Trauma Educational Series sponsored by the Perry Foundation, US Department of Veteran Affairs, and the Nevada Department of Veteran Affairs.
Bonnie earned her Masters Degree in Clinical Social Work from Columbia University of New York with a focus in Health, Mental Health, and Disabilities in 2022 with specific focus on the populations directly impacted with trauma from domestic violence, intimate partner violence, military sexual trauma, child abuse, and religious trauma.
Her professional background in practice management, business development, community outreach, marketing and training in conjunction with her drive to continue to advocate for veterans are the force that drives her to unify these resources and agencies.
When Bonnie is not busy with identifying ways to bring together these resources and supporting those around the country, Bonnie works as a Readjustment Counselor at the Portland Vet Center in Portland, Oregon supporting fellow service members and families that have been directly impacted by trauma during their time in service within the community, and is a participating member of the MST Task force with the Portland VA Medical Center .
Bonnie is trained to deliver therapeutic approaches CPT, CBT, DBT, IFS, MI and is a certified trauma professional.
Her goals are to further research the impacts and best course interventions for those impacted by military sexual trauma, educate future professionals on understanding the challenges this population faces in seeking support and the development of best course directives in therapeutic services serving this population and their families.