"There is a voice that doesn't use words.  Listen." - Rumi

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One of the most important factors in therapeutic success is the relationship between the client and therapist.  My role in our relationship is to help you feel safe when exploring your inner world as we remove the obstacles preventing you from your instinctual potential towards healing and growth.  Together we will work in the present to heal your past and move towards your future.  I am here to provide safety, insight, education and unconditional acceptance of who you are and where you are on your journey.  I work collaboratively and humbly with you without taking an expert position in your life. 
 

My hope is that you will take what we do during session and apply it to your life outside of therapy in the form of self-therapy.  This may look like journaling, reading books, applying and practicing new techniques, incorporating mindfulness practices, drawing your emotions, etc.  By performing self-therapy, you may achieve goals at a faster rate because you are the creator of change. 

 

As you gain mastery over your life, you may find yourself booking sessions further apart, you may take a break and come back, or you may stop attending all together.  Whatever you choose, my door will remain open should you feel you want or need to come back.  

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For those who are curious about my theoretical stance, I take a nurturing, empathetic and humanistic approach to communicating with clients and orient my work through mindfulness, neuroscience, Gestalt, and narrative frameworks.  I pull from all theories to provide an eclectic mix of interventions and treatment options to best suit each client's needs. 

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Working with Trauma:

I take a holistic approach to treating trauma by combining talk therapy to engage your logical neocortex (thinking and reasoning part of your brain) and somatic therapy to engage your nervous system (feelings and emotions).  Why do I do this?  Awareness and understanding often are not enough to heal our trauma.  A lot of us know why we are the way we are and we often get stuck in not knowing what to do with the awareness, often asking, "now what?".  I ground our work in somatic approached, Brainspotting (what is that?),  Accelerated Resolution Therapy (what is that?) and trauma-sensitive focused mindfulness to guide you through healing the "stuck" trauma.  

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Education: 

Master of Arts in Psychology
Phillips Graduate University

Thesis: Ghosts of Childhood Past: Pathological Narcissism as a Defense Mechanism and its Impact on Future Generations

Bachelor of Arts in Psychology
California State University, Northridge