Hello, I am a licensed psychotherapist and trauma specialist in private practice. My professional focus and passion are the centrality of the mind / body connection and somatic based treatment for trauma. I’m a Trauma Resiliency Model (TRM) practitioner, certified EMDR provider and Integrative Psychotherapy Trauma therapist. I'm also a mindfulness meditation instructor, registered Yoga teacher, and certified Trauma-sensitive Yoga (TCTSY) facilitator. Paramount to my work with people, in any of these roles, is our relationship; one that is based in authenticity, safety, trust, open-heartedness and integrity.
I have been in private practice for 20 years. I specialize in treating individuals with histories of trauma, with symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress (also known as PTSD), Complex Trauma (also known as CPTSD or developmental trauma) or any trauma or stress related condition. I also work with individuals experiencing depression, anxiety, grief, or overwhelming life challenges and transitions.
Early on in my practice I became interested in trauma work while repeatedly witnessing trauma’s painful impact on body, brain, memory, mood and relationships, particularly from interpersonal, attachment and childhood trauma. Experiencing and re-framing trauma as physiological and biological more than psychological led me to additional studies in Somatic Experiencing (SE), the Trauma Resiliency Model (TRM), Trauma sensitive yoga movement as supportive treatment for trauma (TCTSY), EMDR, Trauma theory, Attachment theory and Neuroscience. These studies and trainings, hand in hand with a stance of non-judgment, non-coercion and compassion, help me to help my clients integrate and heal from their traumatic experiences.
I've been a mindfulness meditation practitioner since 1983 and a yoga practitioner since 2000. Meditation and yoga are daily practices essential to my professional and personal balance, particularly when my life’s journey has been difficult. I'm an avid appreciator of written story, literature and poetry. I have facilitated poetry and meditation workshops and women’s therapy groups.
I’ve worked as a social worker and clinician in hospice, hospital, and school settings. The range of my work with refugees in Thai refugee camps in the 1980’s, to the chronically mentally ill in community clinics, to adolescents in inner city schools, to youth in juvenile hall, to those who are dying in hospice care and at the Kalighat Home for the Dying in Calcutta, India, has provided me the privilege and opportunity to observe our human condition from a variety of perspectives.
Our personal stories, genetics and circumstances are as individual as each finger print, and deserve unique consideration, however our deepest human needs, longings and vulnerabilities are universal.
My therapeutic approach is strongly influenced by my practice and studies in mindfulness, stress reduction, yoga, and the mind / body relationship. Our thoughts, feelings, body and brain are profoundly interconnected, both in ease and disease, so must be addressed holistically. Therefore, my work with clients emphasizes the integration of cognitive, emotional and physical aspects of health and well-being. In therapy sessions I interweave talk therapy with somatic and embodiment practices, and utilize EMDR whenever appropriate and requested.
I believe whole-heartedly in each person’s capacity to attain mental and emotional health, self-worth, self-awareness, and a fulfilling life. I believe in the power of being listened to, objectively and empathically, especially when it is hard to reach out, or we feel alone, or think that no one cares or could possibly understand us. This is the value of therapy; a safe person in a safe space for you to be heard and be seen, a space to recognize your inherent goodness and wholeness, to heal, and to grow…
EDUCATION
- Masters of Social Work: California State University, Fresno, CA.
- Bachelors of Science: Social Work and Psychology: University of Washington, Seattle, WA
PROFESSIONAL LICENSE
- LCS 23296 Clinical Social Work; California Board of Behavioral Sciences
CERTIFICATES
- Trauma Center Trauma Sensitive Yoga Facilitator (TCTSY-F), The Center for Trauma and Embodiment, Justice Resource Center
- Trauma Resiliency Model (TRM) practitioner, Trauma Resource Institute
- Integrative Psychotherapy Trauma therapist, Fairfield University School of Nursing and Health Studies
- EMDR provider / therapist, EMDR International Association
- Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT-200), Yoga Alliance
- Prison Yoga Project yoga facilitator, Prison Yoga Project (PYP)
- Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), El Camino Hospital Stress Reduction Program
TRAININGS
- Neuroscience and Yoga
- Life Force Yoga to Manage Mood
- Trauma Center Sensitive Yoga
- Prison Yoga Project
- Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)
INTERNSHIPS
- Hinds Hospice social worker, Fresno, CA
- Cooper Middle School counselor, Fresno, CA
- YMCA Refugee Women’s program, Seattle, WA
VOLUNTEER EXPERIENCE
- Yoga instructor, Restorative Partners, Juvenile Justice, San Luis Obispo, CA.
- Yoga instructor, Prison Yoga Project, California Men's Colony, San Luis Obispo, CA.
- Meditation instructor, Focus Forward, Juvenile Justice Campus, Fresno, CA.
- Patient care assistant w/ Missionaries of Charity Kalighat Home for the Dying, Calcutta, India.
- Patient care assistant w/ Patna Sisters of Charity Leper Hospital, Bihar, India.
