A little bit about me

My background

I have walked my own path towards healing

I had innate curiosity and creativity when I was growing up, and I was surrounded by discussions and books on psychology. I liked to draw and write.

I was always interested in dreams and the imagination, but these ideas also seemed to carry mysteries that appeared to be bigger than myself. I felt that there was a void, that something was missing, and I searched for meaning and to understand where I fit in the world.

These interests eventually drove me to study Jungian psychology, philosophy, various religious traditions, literature, art and metaphysics later in life. 

For the past thirty years, I have been a student of my own inner work, engaging with personal depth psychotherapy, dream work, active imagination, somatic work, trainings, workshops and seminars. 

Before I became a therapist

In my early years, I worked in entertainment in Los Angeles. Even though I was a creative person, I found the business nature of the work to be dispiriting. I wanted to do something with my life in which I felt more connected to my true purpose and calling. 

What I didn’t understand, initially, was that my yearning to find meaning and fill a void was influenced by my own history with childhood trauma.

Even though I had strived for many years to understand myself and reduce this void, it wasn’t until I began working with a trauma-informed therapist that I was able to find myself and to restore the meaning and the direction that I had always sought.

Through therapy, as I recovered from the trauma that had been inhibiting me, I began to explore in-depth who I was and what I wanted to be.

It became clear to me that I had to return to the connection with the ideas, dreams and mysteries that had inspired me as a child. I wanted to help others explore their inner most selves and to heal from their wounds, so I decided to go back to school to become a therapist. 

Now I strive to help others walk their own paths

Because I had experienced the transformative benefits of therapy, it compelled me to endeavor to help others on their own paths as they find a way out of their own challenging, adverse past experiences. 

As part of the process of learning about myself, I plunged into the field of psychology, trauma recovery and further studies, and became invested in understanding as much as possible about what makes people heal. 

For the past 12+ years I have devoted myself specifically to the understanding of how childhood trauma effects us and how healing takes place. 

Training

On my path to becoming a therapist I worked at a low-fee community mental health clinic in San Francisco, providing support to individuals and couples of diverse backgrounds with a wide range of mental health issues, including trauma, anxiety, depression, and personality disorders.

For three years I worked at Bay Area Psychotherapy Training Institute, while establishing my practice in Lafayette, prior to obtaining my license. During this time I worked with adults, couples, families and children with a myriad of issues related to trauma, depression, anxiety, vocational and relationships.

For a year and a half I worked at a middle school counseling students with a variety of concerns.

Prior to my clinical training, I spent over seven years providing emotional support and intake services to parents of children with special needs.

Education and training

~ Brainspotting, Phase 1
~ Brainspotting, Phase 2

~ Couples Training in the Developmental Model, Level 1

~ Jungian Oriented Psychotherapy
A nine-month study course on Jungian Psychotherapy with the San Francisco Jung Insitute. Courses included:

  • Analytical Psychology: Historical Context

  • Approaching the Unconscious: An Analytic Attitude

  • Complex of Identity: Ego, Ego Development and the Phases of Life

  • Archetypes, Myths, and the Personal Psyche

  • The Self, Ego-Self Alignment and Estrangement

~ EFTI (Emotionally Focused Therapy for Individuals),
Level 1

Additional trainings in personality disorders, dissociation, and trauma resolution.

My personal interests include having attended multiple seminars at the CG Jung Institute in San Francisco and Los Angeles throughout my life. 

Professional Affiliations

  • Program Director, Bay Area Psychotherapy Institute (BAPTI), Lafayette CA 2020-2022

  • Board member, Bay Area Psychotherapy Institute, Lafayette, CA 2017-2022

  • While at BAPTI, co-created scholarship fund to increase access to affordable therapy for the community

  • California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT)

  • East Bay CAMFT

Personal Interests

During my free time I enjoy art, illustration, life drawing, photography and writing. I love reading and watching movies and being outside hiking or biking. I experience a lot of joy spending time with my young adult son, who always keeps smiling, laughing and grounded all at the same time.

Licensing + Degree

Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist #120106

Masters in Counseling Psychology with an Emphasis in Depth Psychology
Pacifica Graduate Institute, Santa Barbara, CA 

Bachelors in Fine Arts, Photography
California State University, Long Beach, CA