ABOUT ME
My career spans nearly 25 years of experience working with adolescents, adults, and families. After completing my undergraduate education at University of California, Santa Cruz in psychology, I worked as a counselor in residential treatment with teenagers struggling due to sexual and physical abuse, depression, anger management, family violence, and substance use. Many of the youth I have worked with have been involved in the foster care and juvenile justice systems. Through these meaningful experiences, I was drawn to continue my clinical practice with young people who have experienced trauma in their lives. I went on to earn my Master’s degree in Social Work with an emphasis in Clinical Practice at The University of Chicago’s School of Social Service Administration.
I received my training in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy at The University of Chicago and at the Warren Wright Adolescent Center of Northwestern Memorial Hospital’s Outpatient Treatment Center. Upon completing my graduate education, I returned to the Bay Area to work in community mental health in Oakland with transition-aged youth in the foster care system. I coordinated a field instruction program and supervised trainees and master’s-level therapists in outpatient treatment clinics. In 2009 I started my private practice in San Francisco as I continued my role as a Clinical Supervisor, supervising therapists working with adolescents and adults with high mental health needs. In 2014 I relocated my private practice to Oakland and transitioned from my last supervisory position in a community mental health outpatient clinic to focus on my private practice full-time.
Throughout my career as a Cognitive Behavioral Therapist, I have taken a developmental (life course), trauma-focused, and family systems perspective. In my private practice, I utilize Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in a flexible way that gets to the heart of clients’ difficulties. My approach takes into account clients’ current and early life experiences and relationships that have shaped their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. I strive to skillfully help people navigate through these influential life experiences to help them discover their fundamental beliefs about themselves and the patterns they find themselves in so that they can uncover the source of their difficulties and feel empowered to make positive changes in their lives.
