As a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, I guide individuals, couples, and families who are stuck or disconnected. I use the evidence-based approach, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing therapy, to help you heal any trauma. I also use mindfulness, meditation, and other body-based interventions to help you reconnect to your body and to feel calm. We will explore the different parts of yourself with curiosity and compassion and bring awareness to your beliefs, needs, and relational patterns. We will collaborate together to find approaches that work for you. You will come to see that you have the capacity to handle life’s struggles. You will gain the courage to make choices and changes that empower you from a place of love and acceptance. You will have the capability to have healthy, thriving relationships.

I believe healing begins with the connection to yourself. I know because that’s what it took for me to start healing my own relationships. What I discovered in my early therapy was that I was disconnected from myself. I repeated relationship patterns over and over again. I used self-sabotaging coping mechanisms. I felt shame, self-doubt, and dissatisfaction in my life. I constantly looked to others to be and feel okay. I didn’t know how to truly take care of myself and expected a lot from my relationships. Once I gained insight into my patterns, I understood that I was coping the only ways I knew how. This was when I learned how to offer myself compassion, love, and patience. Body-based practices that helped me feel safe inside my body really accelerated the change. That’s when I began reconnecting with myself.

Raising my boy/girl twins, taking care of my dog Barnabas, spending time with family and friends, traveling, and skiing. I love reading, spirituality, and the human condition! I also love creative writing and have used it to process and heal through my breast cancer journey. I am involved in several young breast cancer survivor groups. I'm on the Board of Directors for my local California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists and enjoy planning CE events and networking with other therapists.

A late afternoon walk with Barnabas and my kids up a giant hill that has a view of the ocean at the top in my neighborhood. We get our heart rates up, gives us a break from the house, and a chance to say hello to neighbors.

To Kill a Mockingbird. It was an elementary school read that gave me a glimpse into the realities of racism and injustice in our country, especially in the South where I grew up. It broke my heart and made me fall in love with reading, story-telling, and strong characters like Atticus Finch, for whom my son is named!

Breast Cancer Portrait Project, which is now the Young Breast Cancer Project. It was founded by my friend Missy, who was diagnosed just a month prior to my own Breast Cancer diagnosis in early 2019. Missy used her skills as a photographer to capture photos of young women like myself going through breast cancer treatment and documenting their stories. It helped make me feel beautiful in the midst of a crisis and brought so many of us together. This nonprofit seeks to spread useful information on early detection for women in their 20s, 30s, and 40s.

Skiing in the wintertime, dancing, yoga, creative writing, spending time with loved ones, and frequent massages!

I have a German Shepherd Dog named Barnabas who is 5 years old. He is incredibly smart, energetic, and playful. When he was a year old, we left him alone in the yard for about 30 minutes and came outside to find that he had eaten his entire leash! We went straight to the emergency vet and found out he had chewed up the entire thing before swallowing. He's certainly a determined guy!