My Story
I am born and raised in Southern California and am one of five children in my family. I am an older sister to a sibling on the spectrum, which was a huge early influence on my passion for the helping profession. After graduating with a BA in Psychology, I started my career working with individuals on the autism spectrum. Two years later, I moved to Chicago in pursuit of graduate school. I attended Adler University and earned my MA in Counseling Psychology and a PsyD in Clinical Psychology. This time in my life is cherished as I got to pursue and practice what I love while getting to know myself in new ways outside of what has always been familiar. I completed my postdoctoral residency at Kaiser Permanente in Northern California before ultimately starting a family and moving back to my home base. Outside of practice, I enjoy any opportunity to play. I love finding small local adventures to enjoy with my family, I like to invest time in creative projects, and find fulfillment in time spent outside in nature.
My Approach
I approach therapy with a curiosity, aiming to really hear and understand the very personal lived experience of each client. Using an interpersonal and relational approach I view everyone as social beings working their best to navigate a social world. I explore early attachment experiences that inform our views of self, others, and the world around us. I utilize a lot of my own reactions in the therapy session and encourage my clients to share their reactions towards me, believing this provides valuable feedback. Our bodies are very useful tools and I like to increase understanding of internal responses to help build emotional self-awareness and inform how we would like to approach future experiences. I enjoy using humor with my clients and co-creating ways to navigate challenges in order to live a more valued and fulfilled life.
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