About Me

I've always been passionate about mental health, partially out of a desire to understand my own experiences, and partially due to witnessing the struggles of loved ones around me and wanting to help. I received my Bachelors in Psychology from UC Santa Cruz, then went on to pursue a Masters in Social Work from CSU Monterey Bay, in order to better understand how social injustice and the complex institutional systems we live beneath impact us. I graduated with my MSW in 2017, and earned my clinical license in 2021.

My social work education led me to the foster care system, and I began working at a local foster family agency as a case manager in 2016. Collaborating closely with foster youth and families gave me a clear picture of how complex trauma, dissociation, attachment, and relationships interact. I also worked as a therapist at the Santa Cruz Neurofeedback Center, which gave me direct insight and training in somatic techniques and the "bottom-up" approach to treatment. Private practice has been a long time goal of mine, and the timing was finally right to start my practice in 2023. 

Throughout my career and training, I kept bringing my focus toward queer and trans folks, non-monogamy, neurodivergence, and dissociation, since these are experiences I understand firsthand, feel passionate about supporting, and repeatedly encountered in my clients. I found that often these experiences overlapped with each other, and curiosity about that led me to do a lot of community research and trainings in modalities that affirm these intersecting identities. No one can be a true expert on these identities and diagnoses, since every experience is so vastly personal and different, but I have cultivated a knowledge base to share with my clients of tools, ideas, and perspectives that empower my clients to better understand themselves. 

I have witnessed firsthand the ways that clinicians that over-pathologize neurodivergence and mental health conditions can do long lasting harm to their clients. I believe self diagnosis is valid, and that every person is the own expert on their lives. I wholeheartedly agree with the concept of "nothing about us, without us" for the experiences of marginalized identities and conditions. I believe that helping professionals can play an important role in increasing a client's knowledge and understanding of their experience, but it must be done from a person-centered, empowering, and appropriate perspective. 

I work from an informed perspective that takes into consideration the oppressive systems we live beneath (capitalism, white supremacy, American exceptionalism, etc) and the ways in which these contribute to trauma and dysfunction within our lives. I have done work to unpack my own internalized "isms," and strive to continually learn from voices outside of my own, particularly around race, nationality, and disability. I stay aware of my white privilege and the limitations of my cultural knowledge when joining clients in the therapeutic space, and know that there are times I will misstep and that the work of unlearning will never truly be finished. I am deeply humbled by and grateful to those who have done the painful and vulnerable work of sharing their truths.

I believe that finding safer spaces to unmask and recognize our authenticity and individuality is one of the most powerful ways we can fight back against systemic trauma. I believe wholeheartedly in the power of community.