Biography
My goal is to give you the experiences and tools that you need to move forward in your life.
I believe the foundation of all therapeutic work is your sense of feeling safe, listened to, understood and cared about during sessions. When that empathic connection has been established, we can explore together the stories, patterns and beliefs that contribute to your difficulties. I genuinely want to understand your experiences, and encourage a lot of back and forth between us in sessions. With patience and compassion, I am calm and centered as we work together. The therapy relationship between you and I can provide insights into how you interact with yourself, others and the world at large.
I use short-term, solution focused and long-term treatment models, and welcome people of all colors, ethnicities, spiritual and religious orientations, gender and sexual orientations into my practice.
I have been in the mental health field since 2005, and have worked with a wide range of clients. Through formal classwork, workshops and seminars I have been exposed to many different types of therapeutic interventions.
Some of my other professional experiences include:
- Co-developing and teaching a class for separated or divorced parents
- Coordinating a group therapy program for adults diagnosed with both serious mental health issues and substance abuse problems
- Team teaching clients about Dialectical Behavioral Therapy
- Working with DreamPower Horsemanship on Horses for Heroes, a relationship enhancement seminar for veterans and their partners, based on my dissertation.
I was born and raised in the Bay Area, then spent many years in New York City. I met my spouse in 1993; we have a son in his 20’s. Before I became a psychologist, I worked in theater and television, and volunteered as a community mediator.