New to Grow
I'm a Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist and Board-Certified Art Therapist who loves working with adults navigating the unique complexities of their journeys. As a transracial Latine adoptee continuing my own reunion journey, I bring both professional training and lived experience to my practice, offering genuine understanding of the complexities that come with adoption, cultural displacement, unacknowledged loss, and identity formation. I work primarily with adult adoptees, creatives, and individuals exploring cultural identity and ambiguous grief, who often struggle with belonging, life transitions, and integrating fragmented parts of themselves. My clients are motivated and ready to dive deep into their healing journey, seeking greater self-understanding and authentic connection to themselves and others. Through a thoughtful blend of art therapy and somatic therapy, I help clients transform feelings of disconnection into a more cohesive sense of self. The creative process allows us to access emotions and insights that exist beyond language, while our therapeutic relationship provides a nurturing space for exploring complex identity issues. My clients leave therapy with a more compassionate relationship with themselves, improved ability to navigate their unique journeys, and enhanced capacity for authentic connection with others. They transform from feeling like outsiders to embracing their complex, beautiful identities as sources of strength and wisdom.
In our first session together, here's what you can expect
Our first session is all about getting to know each other and creating a foundation for our work together. We'll spend time exploring what brought you to therapy, your hopes for our time together, and any concerns or questions you might have about the process. I'll share more about how I work and what makes art therapy unique, though there's no pressure to create anything in this first meeting—we'll move at whatever pace feels right for you. You can expect a warm, curious conversation where I'm genuinely interested in understanding your story and the complexities of your experience. By the end of our session, we'll both have a clearer sense of whether we're a good fit and how we might work together moving forward. My goal is for you to leave feeling heard, understood, and hopeful about the possibilities ahead.
The biggest strengths that I bring into our sessions
I bring a unique combination of my lived experience as a transracial adopted individual and my deep clinical training—I don't just understand complex identity issues intellectually, I've navigated them personally and continue to do so. This allows me to hold space for the nuanced, often contradictory feelings that come with existing between worlds, without trying to rush you toward resolution. I approach this work by weaving together multiple modalities (art therapy, somatic work, and traditional talk therapy), thus creating a truly integrated experience, where healing happens on multiple levels simultaneously. I'm very intuitive and can often sense when words aren't enough and when the creative process might unlock something deeper. I enjoy helping the people I work with access their own wisdom through verbal, nonverbal, and creative expression. I believe that my willingness to be authentic about my own journey creates a unique therapeutic container where you can feel safe to explore your most vulnerable parts without judgment.
The clients I'm best positioned to serve
The people I work with are thoughtful, introspective adults who feel ready to explore the deeper layers of their experience. Many have a sense of existing in liminal spaces—whether through adoption, cultural identity questions, creative pursuits, or life transitions that have left them questioning where they belong. All of my clients have a willingness to sit with complexity and uncertainty––is that you? Are you drawn to understanding not just what happened TO you, but also how those experiences continue to shape your relationships, choices, and sense of self? Have you achieved external success but still struggle with an internal sense of fragmentation or disconnection? The people I work with want more than simply symptom relief; they're seeking meaningful transformation and a deeper understanding of how to live authentically in a world that often demands simple answers to complex questions.
Relational
I believe that healing happens within the context of an authentic relationship, where our growth and understanding emerge through genuine connection. As someone who navigates my own journey through identity, belonging, and ambiguous grief as a transracial Latine adoptee, I bring both professional expertise and lived experience to create a nurturing space where you can explore complex identity layers through conversation and creative expression. My relational approach honors your innate wisdom while using the therapeutic relationship itself as a canvas where patterns can emerge, be witnessed, and transformed—helping you move from disconnection toward a more integrated, authentic way of being.