I enjoy working with adults of all ages, cultural and ethnic backgrounds, sexual orientations and gender identities who are experiencing challenges related to anxiety and stress. Oftentimes these challenges include social anxiety, panic attacks, phobias, perfectionism, intrusive worries or thoughts, OCD, health or illness anxiety, work-stress, relational stress, work-life imbalances, life transitions and adjustment (e.g. starting a new job, starting college, coming out, divorce, retirement).
Individual Therapy
Ph.D. in Psychological and Quantitative Foundations, Counseling Psychology
Predoctoral Internship: University of California, Irvine Counseling Center (APA Accredited) Completed: August 2008
Postdoctoral Resident Specializing in Crisis Assessment and Intervention University of California, Santa Cruz Department of Counseling and Psychological Services
50 minute sessions over the phone or video
Teletherapy
My style of therapy is genuine, warm, practical, light-hearted, action-oriented, and research informed. I am not the kind of therapist who sits in passive silence analyzing your subconscious motivations. You’ll find that I am active and engaged with you, and offer practical guidance informed by evidence-based therapeutic approaches.
Being a therapist is exhilarating. It enables me to be someone’s collaborator on their journey of change. This work is both important and unique, in that it is aimed at decreasing suffering and increasing quality of life. As a therapist I am able to accompany and guide someone through the difficult parts of life and to share in the moments of joy and wonder that also accompany change.
Because therapy is your time, I consider what you are looking to change by the conclusion of therapy and what you want from each session and then work to help you address both your short-term and longer-term goals. Are you looking to feel better, to focus on healing and change, or both? I want you leave therapy having decreased pain or distress and with an increased quality of life. At the conclusion of our work you should have new skills or strategies to use when faced with future life challenges.
My clinical training primarily focused on working with adolescents and adults experiencing anxiety, depression, perfectionism, relational conflicts, identity concerns, educational and career-related stress, loss, and major life transitions. In graduate school at the University of Iowa, I was trained in cognitive-behavioral therapy while working with adults at a chronic pain clinic. In the years since becoming a licensed Psychologist, I have held two roles: therapist and college instructor. I currently teach graduate and undergraduate classes in Counseling and Psychology, which helps me stay up-to-date on the new developments in research and theories related to counseling. Over the past few years I have tailored my clinical work to focus on working with individuals who are struggling with anxiety, stress, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and related conditions using cognitive-behavioral and acceptance and commitment therapies. I provide research-informed individual therapy to adults with anxiety and/or OCD and related disorders. Outside of work I am an animal lover, so in my spare time I enjoy walking my dogs, playing with my cat, and spending time in nature. I also enjoy playing board games, cooking, watching live theater, painting furniture, and reading mystery novels.
Professional Member Association for Contextual Behavioral Science (ACBS)
Behavioral Therapy Training Institute (BTTI) certification from the International Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Foundation (IOCDF)
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