I’m a licensed therapist with a master’s degree in Social Work from San Diego State University. I received my Bachelor of Psychology from UC Berkeley, and prior to attending graduate school, I lived and worked as a chef at two Buddhist Retreat Centers in Vermont and Northern California. What was intended as a volunteer summer position turned into an unanticipated three and half years of learning about Buddhism and offering service to others on retreat. Learning about the mind from the perspective of Buddhist philosophy, as well as experiencing first-hand the benefits of meditation and contemplative practices, has shaped the therapist I am today.

As a social worker, I worked in hospice and inpatient hospitals, later transitioning to working primarily as an outpatient therapist. Initially trained in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, I have since moved towards a more eclectic approach informed by Internal Family Systems Therapy, Coherence Therapy, positive psychology, and the work of personal development experts such as Dr. Joe Dispenza and Abraham Hicks. I am Coherence Therapy trained, intermediate level, and have completed Joe Dispenza’s health care practitioner program.

My drive to understand both how the mind works as well as how to use it better was, in large part, motivated by my own suffering – like many people, I have dealt with anxiety and depression and for a long period in my life, felt completely burdened by my own mind. I also had the opportunity to intimately witness some of my family members wrestle with their own mental health challenges, which made me even more curious and eager to understand how to improve our inner circumstances.

Despite really struggling to know how to help myself at times, something in me knew that my life was not meant to be about resigning myself to a future of suffering. I tried a lot of different approaches to healing, and my own mental health journey has always been an integration of things like therapy, self-help, study/contemplation, lifestyle changes, energy work and spirituality. Over time, with continued study and practice, I started to become a happier person. I used various types of meditation (like Vipassana and Open Focus), communication techniques like Non-Violent Communication, personal change strategies such as through Dr. Joe Dispenza’s teachings and  Abrahamn Hicks’ teachings, lessons people have gained through Near-Death Experiences, in addition to studying psychology in the western world and adopting better nutrition habits and lifestyle choices. I voraciously read non-fiction self-help books, I journaled, I meditated, I contemplated.

And I can say very confidently that over time, my life has changed. I am a happier, more confident person, and I am a lot more free and unburdened than I was before I started my mental health journey. I feel more empowered to put my mind in a more positive place, be the person I want to be and create the life I want to experience.

I know the power that we all have in our lives and I am so excited to share tools with you that will help you improve your human experience. As a therapist I can say with certainty that everything I discuss with my clients I essentially have “tried on” myself. I do this work because I believe we can always be happier, more free and more empowered to create in our lives. Diagnoses are not our destiny, and if we change ourselves, our life will change.

If my experience and approach resonate with you, I’d love to hear from you. Feel free to reach out to schedule a consultation call and ask any questions about how I can help.