Licensed to practice in California and accepts 9 insurances. Specializes in LGBTQ, Sex Therapy and 3 more.
New to Grow
I am a first-generation Latino, the first in my family to attend college and pursue graduate and postgraduate education. In finding an area of specialty, it really came down to meeting the needs of my community, which led me to pursue AASECT Sex Therapy Certification. I was working with several BIPOC and LGBTQ+ individuals and couples who brought in issues that I was not equipped to treat, such as gender afirming care and issues around sexual health in the Latin-American community. I have extensive training and experience in providing comprehensive dialectical behavior therapy. However, I am not providing comprehensive DBT in a solo practice, but many of the interventions are rooted in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).
During our first session, it is important to thoroughly assess your needs and determine if we are a good fit as psychologist and patient. That is the key here: for you, as a patient, to get your needs met by a provider you feel comfortable with, to work on your concerns. The first session typically does not always include interventions, as it is often an assessment session to obtain symptoms and goals to work on in future sessions.
I know what it is like to be in therapy, to struggle with anxiety, depression, and trauma. I have struggled with using the same skills I teach others, and the beauty of that is that I will never give you a skill I have not already used myself. In treating individuals using DBT, part of our training is to participate in skills groups to learn the skills we teach others. You can sell the product better when you yourself use the product. Yes, I use a lot of humor and irreverence in my work. I believe in being genuine and not being someone I am not, even as a psychologist.
I have worked with a variety of patients. I have been specializing in working with LGBTQ+ BIPOC and first-generation Americans on a variety of issues related to sexual health/challenges, reconciling sexual orientation and religious backgrounds, religious trauma, and first-generation college students. I am not a traditional therapist who seeks to sit and listen; we will collaborate to find what will work for the challenges you bring into therapy. I will challenge you and welcome you to challenge me, as this is a collaborative relationship to help meet your needs.
Other specialties
I identify as
Dialectical Behavior (DBT)
Dialectical Behavior Therapy is a doing therapy that is based on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), We will work on identifying the areas of improvement and use behavioral skills such as Mindfulness Skills (Being in the present moment), Distress Tolerance (Engaging in behaviors to reduce intense emotions or to help not make things worse), Interpersonal Effectivness Skills (Doing what is effective and may increase the likihood that you will get what you want or say no to something someone or request), and Emotional Regulation Skills (changing or regulating an unwanted emotion). This treatment is behaviorally based; in other words, you come in, identify a challenge you are facing, and we identify skills tha that may help that particular challenge.