Since 2013 I have been working in private practice, even in the past as a registered psychological assistant while under supervision. I started early in this endeavor as I knew that it was my calling to work with people one on one. Getting additional intensive training has meant a lot in my development as an independent private practitioner.

In my private practice I emphasis holistic psychodynamic technique grounded in contemporary object relations theory and attachment. I work with young adults and adults to help them make connections between early life experience with conflicts in the here and now. I believe we are all under the influence of narrative scripts that are often outside our awareness and that those scripts can lead to repetitive loops and a sense of ‘stuckness’. When you work with me we discover and examine the old scripts while writing something new—freeing you to live a life of lasting change.

In my consulting room you will be encouraged to say what ever comes to mind as I provide a safe, non-judgmental space that ultimately facilitates personal freedom trust and growth.

From 2014-2016 I was a pre-doctoral intern at the Access Institute for psychological services. This was a specialized two year internship that offered advanced clinical training in psychoanalytic psychology. The Access mission has always been to provide low-fee, high-quality therapy to the underserved in San Francisco. This experience afforded me the opportunity to work at times with people suffering from severe and persistent mental mental illness who would not ordinarily have access to therapy. This experience was deeply rewarding and it helped me hone my ability to help others navigate very difficult distress and life circumstances. While at Access I also had the opportunity to work many young adults who were in the process of life and identity transition.

I started my journey working with students first in Fall 2012 at Mills College and then later as a post-doctoral fellow at Sonoma State University. In both settings I worked as a therapist in the counseling center. This work was deeply rewarding as I had the opportunity to help young people navigate unresolved issues from their families of origin, difficulties regarding separation, and in many cases identity development including issues related to gender and sexuality. Working with students remains a passion, as does working with anyone trying to understand and work through life transitions.

My very first clinical placement in graduate school in outpatient substance abuse counseling. I worked with people newly in recovery in a 12-step model program. Since that time I have continued to work with people struggling with substance – many of whom I have helped find their way to lasting sobriety.

Since my early days of working in substance abuse counseling, my approach and attitude toward recovery has evolved considerably. There is a reason for every behavior we do as human beings, especially those behaviors that are as complex as self-medicating with substances. No one overuses a substance because they are happy, and from that premise, I work with people to understand the attachment traumas that are usually the cause of problematic substance use. The poet Anne Carson once wrote that “Pain demands an explanation.” When we over-medicate, we are trying desperately to cope with overwhelming emotional pain. Much of this pain is usually greater than we can allow ourselves to know—like an iceberg, most of it is still submerged. Previously as a professor of clinical psychology, I taught a course on the psychological dynamics of addiction that still informs how I work with folks struggling today.