(she/her)
New to Grow
I'm a licensed marriage and family therapist who is passionate about supporting adults heal from trauma, depression, anxiety, as well as self-esteem and relationship challenges. I graduated from the California Institute of Integral Studies' Community Mental Health program, and have years of experience working with children and families impacted by systemic issues, trauma, and chronic stress. My experiences navigating cultures and identities, and my ongoing work with multicultural individuals and families, have given me an understanding of cultural humility that informs how I relate to each person's unique perspective. With a client-centered, compassionate, and culturally-responsive lens, my work weaves psychodynamics and attachment theory, as well as mindfulness and somatic awareness to help encourage insight, self-compassion, and a stronger, more flexible center within oneself.
In our first session, I look forward to learning about you, your day to day challenges, and what brings you to therapy. We will talk about your current needs and goals, and get a chance to see whether my approach is a good match for what you're looking for. If we seem like a good fit, we'll dive deeper into understanding the connection between your past experiences and your current challenges so that we can have a clearer roadmap toward your goals.
One of my strengths is a natural sense of warmth, delight and curiosity in others. I provide a non-judgmental, compassionate space, a shared field that feels safe enough to discover a sense of freedom to be oneself. I recognize that everyone's identities, experiences and needs are unique. That said, I hold an integrative perspective about healing - I believe there are many ways to deepen our relationship with ourselves, and I find it important to be flexible while honoring therapeutic goals. I also love being called to weave in the expressive arts - writing, dance, art, movement, ritual - into sessions. Often there are parts of us that have not been witnessed, and I strive to hold space and reverence for those to emerge, to be expressed, and feel seen.
Psychodynamic
In my work with clients, psychodynamic therapy is the foundation out of which other approaches can emerge. We explore the impact of early life experiences and how they often unconsciously shape our thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and sense of self. Bringing these patterns to awareness with gentleness and compassion can help create lasting change.
Mind-body approach
I graduated from the two-year Hakomi mindfulness-based somatic psychotherapy program, which has been a framework for my somatic work with individuals. In this work, we use mindfulness and somatic interventions to help heal attachment wounds and developmental trauma.