My Approach

Therapy is not one-size-fits-all, and neither are you. I know it’s important for you to find a therapist who is a good fit for your needs. I am trained in a variety of evidence-based therapy approaches, and I integrate aspects from all of them to customize a treatment plan for each individual’s unique needs. My approach emphasizes collaboration and building rapport through authenticity, humor, and some degree of irreverence.

Consultation
I offer a free 15-minute consultation call for us to get to know each other. I ask about your concerns, what you’re struggling with, and what you hope to get from therapy to better understand if I’m able to help. I answer any questions you may have about therapy, my work, pricing, etc. You get a sense of how I work and what being in session with me would be like.

Intake
Our first appointment together is called an “intake” appointment. During this appointment, I ask more questions about your everyday life, stressors, mental health history, and support system. We develop goals for our work together and I usually offer some skills to get started. You’ll notice that I take lots of notes during this first session; that’s because I don’t want to forget important details you’re sharing with me and I take far fewer notes in the coming sessions.

Treatment
Treatment typically starts with one session every week. During each session, I check in about how things are going to see if there are acute stressors that we need to address. We work toward your treatment goals by practicing new skills, talking through thoughts, processing emotions, and a myriad of other possibilities depending on your unique needs.

Termination
A good time to think about ending treatment is when you show up to session thinking, “hmm, I don’t have anything to talk about today.” This tells me that either your stressors or concerns feel manageable, or you feel equipped to handle even a high level of stress (yay!). To prepare for termination, we ramp down our meetings from weekly to every other week, once a month, etc. until you feel confident to not reschedule another session.

Touch-ups
When life invariably throws stressors your way and you’d like to meet again, feel free to reach back out if you’d like to meet. I keep your notes securely on file so we can pick up where we left off.

Education

• Postdoctoral fellowship specializing in Couples and Sex Therapy at The Clinic of California (Optum Behavioral Care)

• Predoctoral internship in Adult Behavioral Medicine at Kaiser Permanente, Oakland

• Doctor of Psychology in Clinical Psychology from the PAU-Stanford PsyD Consortium

• Bachelor of Science in Psychobiology from the University of California, Los Angeles

Research and Clinical Background

I have worked in diverse clinical settings in the Bay Area, including community mental health, college counseling, and multidisciplinary hospital systems including Kaiser Permanente (Oakland, CA) and the Department of Veterans Affairs Hospital (Palo Alto, CA). I also have experience working with a variety of presenting concerns, including depression, anxiety, imposter syndrome, ADHD/executive dysfunction, relational issues, perinatal mood disorders, and LGBTQ+ related issues. My research background includes working on studies investigating the effectiveness of mindfulness interventions on mental health issues like Chronic Pain or PTSD, and the effectiveness of using rTMS to treat Major Depressive Disorder.

My dissertation project involved developing and piloting a trauma-focused Cognitive Behavioral Treatment (CBT) manual to prevent symptoms of posttraumatic stress in couples who receive a prenatal diagnosis.