LPCC, 12 years of experience
New to Grow
I look forward to seeing new clients in November 2025. I'm a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC). I've been practicing 10+ years. I'm licensed to practice in the State of California - LPCC 8014. I began my career in Chicago. I am a psychotherapist, with a trained as a clinical psychologist with a comprehensive foundation in evidenced based practices, research, and teaching. Working with individuals, groups, couples, and families, I’ve primarily practiced in nonprofit and community based settings. I've helped college students, survivors of violence, individuals, couples, and families with complex trauma (childhood, sexual, intimate, workplace, or spiritual), LGBTQ identities, persons at intersections of identity and path, those with clinical diagnoses, persons wanting to heal, others wanting growth. I’ve mainly worked with adults, though I do see individuals 12 years and older. One of the greatest honors has been to earn my clients’ trust. I fundamentally believe this work is both a profession, and also a calling, a blend of art and science. As to how I practice, I am compelled by depth psychology, having completed more extensive psychodynamic training (Chicago Center for Psychoanalysis). I also have completed the Emotion Focused Therapy Externship with Sue Johnson herself. Other experiences: After college, I was an Americorps volunteer at Chicago's Mercy Home for Boys & Girls. I also worked with Asian and African refugees in Chicago before beginning my doctoral studies. I also have been a consultant, trainer, and speaker, addressing mental health and diversity in the workplace. I also lead people operations for a local nonprofit. I enjoy: Audible; podcasts: We Can Do Hard Things, Esther Perel's Where Should We Begin?, and Danielle LaPorte's With Love, Danielle; drives in the desert; Balboa Park; Laguna' Beach's art scene; African drumming; poetry (Andrea Gibson); a good nap.
Whether it’s your first time or you’ve done therapy before, my goals in our first session are as follows: To (1) have you feel seen/heard (2) get to know you; (3) have some idea of why you’re here and why now; (4) provide you with some relief or a tool you can take with you. The first couple sessions allow me to dive more into who you are and what’s not working now. This helps draft a plan for how to be helpful, now and in the long run. It is very open to modification, yet it’s a helpful launch point because we can head into many directions without history offering a focusing lens.
Phrases my clients have used: "Thank you for giving me a chance, for seeing the most beautiful me. And thanks for being so kind. You will forever be one of the nicest things I have ever had in my life." "You’re not scared of me or for me. You help me be brave." "I thought that showing another my shameful side would be devastating but I’ve felt free.”
You’ve come to this place where doing the same thing is painful, unrewarding, problematic, overwhelming, aggravating, lonely, numbing, isolating, draining, or any combination. There is an unsettledness. You might be clear on what needs to change. You might have no idea. Or be full of too many options to choose. Maybe some said you should talk with someone. Maybe your own stirrings have kept you up at night. Maybe your body and circumstances are saying that things aren’t working. Perhaps on the surface, your life is fine, but you can’t make sense of the disconnect you feel between your dreams and your reality. You also might entirely minimize the amount of pain you experience until it gets bad. The hopeful thing? This is a place. It’s not permanent. It’s not definitive. It can shift. As they say, it gets better. But sometimes that doesn’t happen just with the passage of time. Many say therapy is hard work. But you’re probably already good at working hard. Through honest gentle work, together we can bring immediate shifts into your life. Change can happen incrementally or on a grand scale. Or over time. I’ve seen change happen. I’ve experienced it myself. It can get better. Even if you need to borrow others’ hope. How does change work? By having someone in your corner who can guide, reflect, remind, explore, and listen. To be a witness to your one wild and precious life. The ideal client? The one who is both annoyed by the question and whose perfectionism wants to please someone. I don’t believe in the ideal client. Sometimes I’m here to help you to the next person, or for a longer bit down the road. It matters to me that you find who is best for you at the time, so don’t try to fit yourself into someone’s ideal. I believe you can find multiple avenues of healing to be successful. Psychotherapy is just one. I am also very mindful of how hard it is to find a therapist and will work with you to find what works.
I approach clients, seeking immediate solutions while being very aware that what gets people to start therapy or revisit it, often becomes a minor focus as other, more important issues are brought to light.
I incorporate a blend of approaches, ultimately being guided by each client in determining what treatment will prove most beneficial. Sometimes there is a blend. Sometimes, there are different approaches based upon the primary concern (which can shift). Ultimately my goal is growth and change, with a steadfast commitment to finding (and evaluating) what works best based upon results and your feedback. Therapy is often an exploratory venture as there is a uniqueness in the room that breathes life into treatment, but it is not experimental in the sense that untested or unsound methods are deployed. Treatment is interpersonal as a trusting relationship is at the heart of change.
Trauma informed care has rightly placed client power, agency, control, and an understanding of somatic (body) and neuroscience (brain and memory) back into the space of healing. Treatment is ineffective and often maladaptive when client dynamics of trauma, including individual and societal and historical traumas are not incorporated into the healing space. Health and growth is most effective when clients are seen and respected.