About Me.
I grew up in Nevada County, Northern California, swimming and playing out of doors. I loved to dance throughout my childhood, and was lucky enough to have dance lessons. To this day, dancing is one my favorite past-times. I began my Dance Movement Therapy studies in 2001 at Naropa University in Boulder, CO. At the time, I did not know I would become a psychotherapist. It wasn't until 2009 that I started my training in Somatic Psychotherapy at The Santa Barbara Graduate Institute. This school ended up changing hands while I was attending, and I graduated with a Master's degree from The Chicago School of Professional Psychology in 2012. My path in training was varied, and this allowed me the opportunity to learn several modalities of treatment, for all age groups.
In my work with children, teens, and adults I provide compassionate, honest, relationship focused counseling. My aim is to support you and your family to develop the skills to navigate your life with integrity, creativity, introspection, and joy. I provide an attuned, warm presence to support you in addressing depression, anxiety, relationship struggles, life transitions, trauma, and grief/loss issues. My somatic approach supports mindfulness, and allows for the integration of body, mind, and spirit. I enjoy using expressive arts, including movement, music, drawing, writing and poetry.
I work with families with small children to provide a relational non-directive play-based approach. I also incorporate a type of therapy known as DIR/Floortime, created by Dr. Stanley Greenspan and Dr. Serena Wieder, that takes into account the sensory make-up the child's body. My goal is to foster warmth and connection in the parent/child relationship to support the child's ongoing development. In addition to working with children, I have special training in working with infant/caregiver pairs using gentle guidance to work with bonding disruptions. Somatic psychotherapy integrates a focus on the body to support you in coming into present moment awareness of your bodily experience. The bodily experience is where our feelings live. This process of heighten bodily awareness opens up opportunities for insight, which lead to creative exploration and transformation.
I work with families with small children to provide a relational non-directive play-based approach. I also incorporate a type of therapy known as DIR/Floortime, created by Dr. Stanley Greenspan and Dr. Serena Wieder, that takes into account the sensory make-up the child's body. My goal is to foster warmth and connection in the parent/child relationship to support the child's ongoing development. In addition to working with children, I have special training in working with infant/caregiver pairs using gentle guidance to work with bonding disruptions. Somatic psychotherapy integrates a focus on the body to support you in coming into present moment awareness of your bodily experience. The bodily experience is where our feelings live. This process of heighten bodily awareness opens up opportunities for insight, which lead to creative exploration and transformation.
