My educational and professional background has afforded me the experience of working with a vast array of clientele and has allowed me to recognize the importance of flexibility and adaptability as a therapist. I began my educational experience pursuing my goal of working with the Deaf, and graduated with my Bachelor’s Degree in Deaf Studies. After this time, I worked in a school setting with Deaf adolescents, where I obtained further experience working with young teens as well as high school students. I went on to obtain my Masters in Counseling, and began working in various clinical settings.
During my time as psychotherapist, I have been exposed to a wide range of clientele and have come to realize my areas of expertise and my enthusiasm when working with clients therapeutically. My clinical experience includes employment at a residential eating disorder treatment facility, where I worked with adolescents suffering from eating disorders and their families. During this time I also co-facilitated group therapy, conducted individual and family sessions, and worked with a multi-disciplinary team including dieticians, psychiatrists, M.D.s and other psychotherapists.
After gaining experience in this residential setting, I later transitioned and began working at an outpatient mental health clinic for children and adolescents, where I continued to work with eating disorders among other mental health issues. My experience includes working with cases involving severe trauma, addictions, family conflict, depression, anxiety, as well as other mood disorders. At this clinic, I gained tremendous exposure to crisis intervention, and worked as a member of a crisis intervention team. These experiences have cultivated my ability to remain calm and objective during periods of extreme stress for individuals and their families. My clientele also included Deaf and Spanish speaking clients, which allowed me to utilize my linguistic skills while also gaining invaluable experience working with a wide array of cultures. In addition, during this time I also became certified in EMDR, a trauma based therapy which I implement with clients on a regular basis.
After working as a psychotherapist at a community clinic for over five years, I opened my own private practice in 2012, where I continue to specialize with trauma, EMDR, dissociative disorders, eating disorders, couples therapy, family therapy, and Relational Gestalt Therapy. I am a Certified Eating Disorder Specialist and Supervisor (CEDS-S), a Certified EMDR therapist, as well as an EMDRIA Approved Consultant, which allows me to work with therapists becoming certified as both EMDR clinicians and eating disorder specialists. Currently, I am working towards becoming a certified yoga therapist (C-IAYT) and will complete the 850-hour program in November, 2023. I am a Licensed Trauma Informed Yoga Therapy (TIYT) Clinical Facilitator for the Overcome Program through the Sundara Academy, a certified trauma informed yoga teacher, and I own a trauma informed yoga studio in my psychotherapy practice. In the studio, I conduct group trauma informed yoga practices, and incorporate both body movement and breath work into my indivicual work with clients, as it is clinically appropriate and useful, using the yoga studio for individual and couples’ sessions, as well as group psychotherapy. I am a Certified Gestalt Therapist through the Pacific Gestalt Institute, and currently run a psychotherapy group using this model, and offer consultation for Gestalt therapists wishing to pursue certification. My private practice office is located in Claremont, CA. I am licensed in both California and Colorado, and can provide virtual therapy for those living in Colorado, and both in person and virtual therapy for those residing in California.
