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About Me

All my life, I’ve been filled with curiosity and an appetite for exploring. I love creating, learning, problem solving, traveling, stories, adventures, and so much more. I grew up in the suburbs of Cincinnati & Cleveland, and in 2007, I ventured to Los Angeles for graduate school in Marriage and Family Therapy & Clinical Art Therapy. Once here, I found myself in a city of vast possibilities and endless contradictions, and in this unfamiliar landscape faced some demons I only suspected might be waiting for me. In addition to therapy, which was profoundly eye opening and healing for me, I found that running, yoga, asking lots of questions, reading, journaling, meditation, traveling, making art, building a community of dear friends, and having a sense of humor were (and are) crucial for my growth and sustenance.

I feel honored to work with individuals, couples, and families from very diverse backgrounds, and in my work I have come to deeply believe in the power of resilience and creativity. 

I am not an “expert.” I think of myself as a perpetual student of life and good living. Rather than searching for single answers, defining labels, fixed diagnoses, or prescribed ways of thinking or being, I find that starting with openness tends to be most rewarding. This approach, coupled with my 9 years of Jungian analysis and other kinds of inner work, has aided my practice of balance, presence, and awareness. My teachers are not only the ones I met in school. I also count as great teachers my family, friends, therapists, books, movies, clients, colleagues, community, my shadow parts, and the aspects of me that I more easily and joyfully experience.​​

I resonate with psychological and therapeutic theories including: attachment theory, positive psychology, developmental psychology, neuroscience, cognitive-behavioral therapy, mind/body (somatic) therapy, existentialism, narrative therapy, theories of the unconscious (particularly the writings of Carl Jung and Jungian analysts), and mindfulness. I’m also a Registered Art Therapist. You can learn more about Art Therapy here.

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I practice therapy in Santa Monica & more recently I've also begun to offer therapy in West Hollywood. I also serve clients looking for therapy in nearby neighborhoods including West Los Angeles, Marina Del Rey, Culver City, Mar Vista, Venice, Brentwood, Playa Vista, Beverly Hills, Hollywood, Hollywood Hills, and Mid City in Los Angeles.

If you're looking for a therapist in Los Angeles, please contact me to arrange a free phone consultation to see if we're a good fit.

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Professional Experience

Private Therapy Practice: Santa Monica & West Hollywood, California, 2015 - Present​

 

Assistant Vice President of Professional Development:  Aviva Family & Children's Services, Los Angeles, 5/17 - Present

Assistant Vice President of Residential Services: Aviva Family & Children's Services, Los Angeles, 8/14 - 5/17

Director of Treatment Services: Aviva Family & Children's Services, Los Angeles, 5/13-8/14

Residential Therapist: Aviva Family & Children's Services, Los Angeles

Residential Therapist: Rosemary Children's Services, Los Angeles

Outpatient Therapist: Angel's Flight Shelter for Runaway Adolescents;  Catholic Charities Los Angeles

Outpatient Therapist: Amanacer, Los Angeles

Education

​Masters of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy & Clinical Art Therapy: Loyola Marymount University, LA

 

​Bachelors of Science  in Psychology: The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH

Specialized Training

Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy


Seeking Safety: Working with Trauma & Substance Abuse

 

Individual Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Somatic Experiencing 

Trauma Informed Touch Skills for Therapists

Organic Intelligence - End of Trauma Course 

 

Certified Teacher of Fitzmaurice Voicework
 

Teaching & Speaking Engagements

Adjunct Faculty: Department of Specialized Programs in Professional Psychology, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, 2019 - Present

Guest Lecturer at Pacifica Graduate Institute, Santa Barbara, California 

Building Supervisory Relationships with the Millennial Generation: Bridging the Generation Gap. Day-long workshop at the 19th National Child & Youth Care Conference, Halifax, Nova Scotia. 

 

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