I have been working in the counseling field since 1996, and have been licensed as a Marriage and Family Therapist since 2001. During that time, I have had the opportunity to work in many different settings--from working with homeless teens to foster youth to victims of trauma (including domestic violence, rape, molest, attempted murder) to working/supervising in a large counseling center with families and individuals to being the program manger/clinical director of a domestic violence/sexual assault treatment center. I have also worked in private practice since November of 2001.
Education and Ongoing Training
I graduated Summa Cum Laude with a B.A. in Psychology from the University of California, Davis, and completed my M.A. degree with a dual specialization in Child and Adolescent Treatment and Expressive Arts Therapy at John F. Kennedy University's School of Professional Psychology. I graduated from the PsyD program at the Institute for Contemporary Psychoanalysis in Los Angeles, CA in 2021. Currently, I am in a one year program at the Manhattan Institute of Psychoanalysis exploring the role of the sociocultural and sociopolitical (issues of race, class, gender, sexual orientation, dis/ability status) in defining who we are and who we are allowed to be.
I continue to take classes and participate in training groups in order to keep my knowledge about effective practice in psychotherapy on the growing edge. In the recent past I have completed additional training in:
- Working with complex PTSD and acute PTSD
- Dissociative Identity Disorder
- Bipolar and Depressive Disorders
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, especially in regards to generalized anxiety, phobias, and OCD
- Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction
- Attachment based psychotherapy
In addition to my private practice, I have worked as adjunct faculty teaching core graduate courses in Marriage and Family Therapy for several universities. I have taught courses or led trainings in: Couple and Family Therapy, Assessment and Treatment of Trauma, Psychopathology, Human Sexuality, Counseling skills, and Counseling and Therapy Theories, and Attachment Theory and its Implications for Psychotherapy. I currently co-teach a seminar in Diversity, Power and Privilege at the Institute for Contemporary Psychoanalysis in Los Angeles, Ca.
Professional Activities and Memberships
- Lifetime Clinical Member of California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CaMFT)
- CaMFT Certified Supervisor since 2007
- Member at the Institute of Contemporary Psychoanalysis in Los Angeles, CA, and candidate at the Manhattan Institute of Psychoanalysis
- Member of International Association for Relational Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy (IARPP), Member of International Association for Psychoanalytic Self Psychology (IAPSP), and International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation (ISSTD).