Skills and Expertise 

I have been working as both a therapist and educator, facilitating healing, growth, and awareness for the past 10 years. I specialize in treating psychological issues from a place of compassion and understanding, helping those I work with find healthy ways of addressing and healing emotional wounds, so that they may experience a fuller and more whole version of themselves.
 

I received my Master’s degree from the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in San Francisco in 2006, with a focus on body-oriented psychotherapy. Using somatically oriented and mindfulness based practices, I help people develop more awareness of themselves and their body and meet life’s challenges in a more grounded way.

 

I have maintained a private practice in San Francisco since 2010, where I work with individuals and couples, addressing a wide range of issues. I have also worked as a primary therapist at Bayside Marin for the last several years. Bayside is one of the area’s premier drug and alcohol treatment facilities. I facilitate holistically oriented process groups intended to help patients gain awareness and understanding of the addiction and recovery processes. I am the creator and facilitator of the Ecotherapy Program at Bayside, where I work in both garden and wildnerness settings to help people utilize the wisdom and healing power of nature in their recovery from addiction. In addition to my clinical work, I am also an Adjunct Assistant Professor at CIIS where I teach various interdisciplinary courses to undergraduate students, with a strong focus on ecopsychology, somatics, and social justice. My article “Embodying Sentience” was published in the book, Ecotherapy, Healing with Nature in Mind, and my urban ecotherapy work has been featured on websites and in Whole Living Magazine .

 

Prior to becoming a therapist, I worked as a high-tech program and project manager in Silicon Valley. I have had first hand experience in the benefits of creating a more full and balanced life that includes a healthier relationship to self, other, and the planet. I am passionate about dance, music, meditation, and yoga as forms of self-expression and self-awareness. I have maintained a regular movement, nature, and mindfulness practice for well over a decade.

 

Training

 

 

 

 

 

I have training in several approaches to psychotherapy that are grounded in psychodynmic, somatic, and mindfulness approaches. These include Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP), Hakomi, and Somatic Experiencing. I have also trained in movement therapies and expressive arts approaches, including several years of Authentic Movement. I also have extensive training in addiction/recovery theory, and best practices. In addition to my psychotherapy training, I have trained in nature-based healing practices with various teachers over the years. This training has allowed me to skillfully integrate relationship to nature into the work with my patients.