““You build inner strength through embracing the totality of your experience, both the delightful parts and the difficult parts.””
About me: I am a licensed psychotherapist (LMFT) and provide individual and family support as well as professional consultation and training. I’m real, engaged, transparent, warm and collaborative.
I hold a BA in Sociology and MA in Counseling Psychology with a concentration in Somatic Psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies. I have been practicing psychotherapy for over 14 years.
A focus of my ethics and clinical activist work can be best described by a field of research called epistemic justice in health care. This broadly is defined as the right for clients to be understood by providers and systems of power as the “knower” of their experiences and a vital contribution to positive change in their care.
I see clients as the experts of their complex experiences and support them to exercise their right to author and make meaning from them. I also honor and recognize the importance of collective healing and see individual therapy as one aspect of a constellation of connections and influences that provide support and wisdom.
For 10 years I worked as a lead clinciian at the UCSF Path program, an early intervention program for psychosis syndrome. I have provided individual and group therapy and worked closely with clients ages 14-36 serving and their families. I served LGBTQIA and TGNC youth and young adults. I also supervised psychiatry doctoral trainees at UCSF. I taught educational seminars on reducing stigma and mental health, collaborative therapeutic approaches to working with extreme states and unusual thought content otherwise known as psychosis. Additionally I provided education to speciality clinics at UCSF on sexuality affirming care and creative relationship structures and lifestyles.
I am also a dedicated movement and visual artist. I have a long-standing practice in contemporary dance, yoga and somatic modalities and studied Japanese Butoh for many years, which is a movement art form rooted in embodiment and meditative traditions and existential inquiry. I also have 20+ years of practice in meditative traditions.
Professional Education:
Somatic Therapy: I graduated from the Somatic Psychology Program at California Institute of Integral Studies. I am trained in various somatic therapies and modalities including Sensorimotor Psychotherapy a somatic approach for the treatment of trauma. AEDP is also a somatic approach to psychotherapy. I have experience and training in Hakomi, Authentic Movement, Feldenkrais, Continuum, Body-Mind Centering, Zen meditation.
Evidence Based Cognitive therapies: I have training in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Compassion Focused Therapy, and Motivational Interviewing. I am certified in CBTp by Dr. Kate Hardy Stanford University and also have co-trained the CBTp foundations training for therapists at Stanford University. I also have training in DBT, ACT, Feeling safe program, Compassion Focused Therapy and EMDRp. I am psychodynamically trained and also draw from the work of Internal Family Systems and existential approaches
Sex positive affirming health care: I have training in clinical health care and sex positive therapy from TASHRA Alternative Sexualities Health Research Alliance and South Shore Sexual Health Center. I receive mentorship and regular sex therapy consultation Joseph Winn MSW, LICSW, CST-S and Group consult with Anna Randall, Director of Tashra. I provide workshops and trainings to clinicians at UCSF and CIIS on alternative sexualities and providing sex positive affirming health care.
Psychosis Spectrum therapies, Advocacy and Education: I am a recognized local expert in early psychosis treatment, having served 10 years as a primary clinician and educator at the UCSF PATH Program and 14+ years in collaborative work across community-based care settings. I am trained in CBTp, CFT, feeling safe approach, voice dialogue, DBT and EMDRp (see therapeutic modalities page for more info on these approaches). I am also an educator and provide trainings to clinicians at universities such as UCSF, Stanford and CIIS. I have worked in schools and wrap around services in Contra Costa County, providing therapy, crisis management and group therapy support to unhoused youth in Richmond CA. I co-produced the Stanford-UCSF Community Education Day for Psychosis for 3 years, guided by values of community building, epistemic justice and affirming neurodiversity.