I am certified in perinatal mental health, which means mental health struggles relating to pregnancy and/ or postpartum mood disorders, which include postpartum depression, postpartum anxiety, postpartum OCD (intrusive thoughts) and postpartum psychosis. Postpartum Mood disorders can affect both moms and dads, as well as adoptive parents.

Trauma effects everyone. Big ’T’ trauma, is a single episode, whereas Little ’t’ trauma is a pervasive pattern of perceived trauma, often originating in childhood. EMDR and Brainspotting are both “bottom-up” modalities, meaning that they attempt to bypass the prefrontal cortex (the logical part of the brain) and target the limbic brain (the feeling, fight/flight/freeze part of the brain).

In individual therapy, I like to help by addressing issues from past, present and future: Past – we look into your early attachment relationships to see what traumas and defense mechanisms your brain has created to keep you safe, but which are negatively impacting you today. Present: we look at increasing and/or implementing coping skills, self care and identity exploration, as well as symptom management through mindfulness, thought stopping, etc. Future: We look at goal setting and what blocks may be getting in the way of your moving forward and creating the future you desire.

In couples work, I like to help couples identify what childhood wounding is being triggered in each partner, and look at how you may be stuck in a feedback loop, where each partner’s defense against their wounding is triggering the other partners wounding. We also look at coping skills to help each partner manage their emotional activation, as well as facilitating effective communication between partners.

With experience working as a therapist at the local elementary, junior high and high school districts, I have extensive experience working with children of all ages. I also have a teenager, school-aged child and a preschooler at home.

I can help you navigate the ups and downs of parenting children of all ages. I focus on discussing appropriate emotional development, as well as your setting appropriate boundaries with your children and positive reinforcement. I also focus on helping you manage your emotions when your child’s behavior triggers and floods you emotionally.

I am an approved facilitator for the Safe and Sound Protocol. SSP is a practical application of Polyvagal Theory designed to reduce sound sensitivities and improve auditory processing, behavioral state regulation, and social engagement behaviors through specially filtered music. SSP can be extremely beneficial by reintroducing safety to a nervous system that is stuck in a heightened sympathetic nervous system response (fight or flight).

I am available to teach workshops on a variety of topics relating to mental health, emotions, mindfulness and parenting. Some prior workshops include: Navigating Your Child’s Big Emotions, Self Care for Caregivers and Ways to Create and Maintain Connections with Your Loved Ones. I have taught workshops in the past through College of the Canyons Foster and Kinship Program.

I can provide Teletherapy to anyone residing in California. Brainspotting and EMDR can be done via teleheath.