Angela was born and raised in Portland, Oregon. She came to the field of psychology by way of her interest in theatre. She completed her undergraduate work at Ripon College in Ripon, Wisconsin in Theatre, Art History and Environmental Biology. After graduating, she was lucky enough to work as an actor with several children's theatre companies providing "edu-tainment". During that time, Angela was amazed by the strength theatre held as a teaching tool. While touring the United States with the theatre companies, she began to wonder if theatre could be as strong a therapeutic tool. She explored graduate programs in Drama Therapy (it is a real thing!) and realized she did not want to move to San Francisco or New York (the only two programs she found at the time), and decided to pursue a degree in general counseling. While exploring counseling programs in the U.S., Angela knew she was looking for a school in a small community that could focus on the individual needs of the student. She was drawn to Northern Arizona University and Flagstaff, Arizona. She moved to Flagstaff initially to complete her Masters' in Community Counseling. After completing the program in two years, she realized her learning was not done. She applied to the doctorate program in Counseling Psychology at NAU and was delighted when she was admitted.During her study in the doctorate program, Angela was working full-time as a mental health counselor at The Guidance Center, the local community counseling center.