New to Grow
I am a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist who was born and raised on Maui, Hawaiʻi. I am of mixed heritage—Hawaiian and Portuguese—and grew up at the intersection of Western influence and Indigenous ways of knowing. In my community, when someone was suffering, the first line of care often came from community healers—curandeiras—who worked with energy, connected with ancestors, and attended to what could not always be seen or spoken. There was also the influence of the land itself: the place that roots us, communicates with us, and teaches us. These early experiences shaped the way I understand healing, connection, and the deeper layers of human experience. As a mixed-race trans man, I have spent much of my life navigating the intersections of culture, identity, and belonging. These lived experiences have shaped my capacity to hold complexity and nuance in the therapeutic process, and they have given me a unique perspective on how we hold ourselves—and one another—in mind. My work is grounded in an attachment-based, trauma-recovery, depth-oriented, and liberation-focused framework. Depending on the needs of my clients, I also incorporate parts work, somatic approaches, mindfulness, and Brainspotting. I pay close attention to what is communicated beyond language—through tone, emotion, and presence. My ability to read people allows me to hear what is often veiled but deeply important to the experiences that may be keeping someone stuck. I approach this work with humility, care, and deep respect for each person’s story. I have worked in the mental health field since 1995 across the San Francisco Bay Area, Maui, and Portland, Oregon, and I have been licensed and in private practice since 2017. It is a true honor to support people in their healing, growth, and self-understanding.
In your first session my aim will be to make you feel welcome. Understanding that by the time most people seek help, they are typically overburdened by what they are carrying, and wanting to bring to therapy. My intention in the first session is to learn from you what is bringing you in to see me - what is most pressing. I also want to create time and space for you to ask questions, and to understand what you find helpful and maybe not so helpful in receiving care from others. For instance, some clients may have had a lot of experience in talk therapy and would like something different. Or don't need more validation but instead want to be challenged. I will work with you to understand as much about your needs in the first session that I can. You will most likely leave the first session feeling like you had a full session and not just an information gathering session. That's the hope.
I think what makes me unique is how deeply intuitive I am, and that it's not just a feeling but something that comes from my lineage in addition to having worked with it and practiced in it for so long. I think incorporating that alongside more Westernized therapies and having practiced both for more than 30 years adding more tools and experiences along the way make me a solid, grounded, unique practitioner.
At this point in my career, I am looking to work with people that are ready to make a change. They may not know how, but they know they are ready. I enjoy working with fellow therapists, as well as people that are curious, insightful, and open to experimenting in finding effective ways to get to the heart of the parts of themselves that are no longer serving them. Maybe they are ready to let go of unhelpful relationship patterns, maybe they know that they are meant for more than they ways they are currently living, they feel they give and don't get the same in return. Or, that their inherent worth is tied to what they can provide for others.
Relational
Supporting clients in increasing their awareness and understanding of repeated patterns that keep them stuck and not living their full potential.
Brainspotting
Is a powerful, focused therapy that helps access and process trauma, emotional pain, and deeply stored experiences in the brain and body. By using specific eye positions connected to emotional processing, Brainspotting allows the brain to naturally release and heal unresolved stress, trauma, and emotional blocks.
Experiential Therapy
I am a deeply intuitive practitioner that has spent years practicing and honing my craft. I incorporate, somatics, intuition, mindfulness, a Liberation, and Depth perspective, trauma-recovery, attachment based approach to my work.