I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, with a private practice in Placerville, California. While I enjoy working with all client populations, I have an affinity for families, couples, and individuals struggling with relational issues, depression, anxiety, or past trauma. Therapy can be hard work and that is why I offer a collaborative partnership. Together, we work to unlock your potential and leverage your strengths and resiliencies, which will lead to healthier and more satisfying relationships and life experiences.

When working with clients, I use both holistic and integrative approaches, including somatic and mindfulness-based interventions. Somatic or body-oriented approaches are based on the premise that the mind and body are deeply interconnected, and that healing and emotional wellbeing can be enhanced using the body's wisdom or felt sense. This means we learn to tune into that wisdom through turning up our awareness of how the body stores and manifests fear, sadness, trauma, anxiety and more. Mindfulness, or present-moment awareness without judgement, is one of the tools used to increase that awareness, and involves different techniques for self-regulation and healing including  breathing, movement, focused attention and others. 

My background includes service in both public mental health and private practice settings. Here I've engaged in crisis management, clinical and school-based counseling, family reunification work with CPS as well as serving clients and families with higher level needs through MediCal and other agencies. I have provided counseling and therapeutic services to children, adults, couples and families, as well as group counseling, case management and collaboration. I have facilitated groups for youth and adults, with topics including  anger management, managing depression, social skills development, as well as parent education (Parent Project, Nurturing Fathers). 

Education 

  • Master of Arts in Counseling Psychology, 2014

  • Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, Cum Laude, 1997

License, Memberships and Certification

  • Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (#99733)

  • Clinical Member, California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT)

Training and Professional Development

I maintain a rigorous training and continuing education schedule, as well as remaining current on developing literature and best practices within the field. Some of these include, but are not limited to:

  • Integrating Art into Therapy

  • Hakomi (Mindfulness and Teens)

  • Substance Abuse and Addiction

  • Child Assessment of Needs and Strengths (CANS)

  • CA Law and Ethics

  • Advanced Mindfulness: Integrating Mindfulness, Meditation & Cutting-Edge Neuroscience in the Treatment of Anxiety, Anger & Depression

  • EMDR Level 1 Trained

  • Natural Processing Part 1: Integrating Somatic Psychotherapy with EMDR Therapy

  • Somatic Trauma Treatment (Peter Levine)

  • Brainspotting, Phase 1 and Phase 2