Foundations of my practice

I recognize the influence of family and social groups on our mental health, particularly the ways emotional patterns, strengths, and burdens are passed down through generations. I view each family as a complex, dynamic system of relationships that involves spoken and unspoken agreements, roles, boundaries, and scripts. With this in mind, we can explore your family and community history, identify patterns you wish to change or keep, and consider the legacy you want to create. As an adoptee I also hold dear the significance of what we don’t know about our histories, and the delicate nature of discussing family experiences—sensitivities that apply whether one is adopted or not.

I view each therapy session as a chance to deepen self-understanding and practice relational skills like giving and receiving feedback, navigating miscommunication and difference, and fostering vulnerability. Through our conversations, you may experience yourself differently as we explore your strengths, values, and sensitivities, and examine how you contribute to the state of your relationships.

This approach focuses on how your past affects your present and zooms in on your subconscious inner world. Together we can explore the hidden beliefs, conflicts, and stories that shape your actions and feelings. By becoming more aware of your subconscious, you become more equipped to interrupt outdated cycles and painful re-enactments, and improve your ability to respond to your present day life, relationships, and resources.

Also called "parts work," IFS is a non-pathologizing approach that frames the psyche as a system of parts—some carrying wounds, others acting as protectors—all ideally guided by a core Self. IFS acknowledges that life's challenges can cause our parts to act in extreme ways and lead our parts to disconnect from or even abandon our Self. Together, we'll explore the origin stories and intentions behind your most vulnerable and most protective parts, creating space for them to be heard, understood, and ultimately, to build trust in the wisdom of your Self.

I strive to center and uplift the needs of people with marginalized identities and bodies. This includes people of global majority/BIPOC, women and girls, neurodivergent, LGBTQIA+, & disabled individuals, immigrants, and all who are simultaneously trying to recover from trauma while being exposed to it and re-traumatized every day.

Many mental health “disorders” are natural responses to stressors in our environments- which includes structural oppression and violence- and “symptoms” are expressions of these invisible but very serious toxins. Together, we can examine the systems that make you sick, and deconstruct the rage, disconnection, and shame they breed. It’s not a question of what is wrong with you, it’s more like what has happened to you?

With that, I acknowledge the mental health industrial complex reinforces a harmful status quo, resulting in care that is too often inaccessible, culturally inept, and hostile for many seeking support. I also acknowledge my own unearned advantages, gaps in understanding, and capacity to inflict harm, and encourage dialogue about those ruptures- with humility and at the speed of trust- within the therapeutic space.

I view each person within the context of their environments, and the relational and cultural dimensions of your strengths and your struggles. Care, belonging, and safety are basic human needs, and I recognize how the presence or absence of these resources can affect a person. I am curious about the ecosystems you exist in, and wonder how your relationships and cultural norms & values impact your mental health.

Most mental health struggles do not occur in a vacuum, and the size and shape of our power in the world directly affects our mental health outcomes. I appreciate the interconnectedness of the personal and the political, and affirm how our identities and social locations come with different networks and layers of power and privilege. I encourage continuous examination of power in relationships and my approach focuses on equity, recognizing that simply treating everyone the same (equality) is insufficient if we start from different places and have different needs.

Our work will move at your pace and be steered with your consent. As a mental health professional that wields power in the therapy space, I am committed to being collaborative and transparent with you about diagnosing, documentation, and anything else regarding your care with me.

Based in mindfulness and neuroscience, Brainspotting is a somatic (body-based) therapy designed to help us get “unstuck.” Different than typical western talk therapy, it recognizes that the body holds wisdom beyond our cognitive understanding and verbal language. Rather than analyzing and explaining what happened, Brainspotting creates a space to access and process these held experiences that can go beyond words and logic. If you find yourself saying, “I know I shouldn’t feel this way, but I can’t help it!” Brainspotting could be for you.

I have completed Phases 1 and 2 and the Master class for Brainspotting.

This sounds strange to some, but at the end of the day humans are like every other animal out here built with an instinctual drive to survive. Like other social animals, we are also hardwired to rely on each other for survival. As we are exposed to adversity, isolation, trauma, and prolonged stress, our bodies brilliantly embed pathways in our automatic survival systems to thwart real and perceived danger. A somatic approach recognizes that our responses to stress and conflict are not simply mental choices but have a reflexive, adaptive, physiological quality to them. I offer education on how our nervous systems work so you can orient to your automatic survival strategies (e.g. fight, flight, fawn, and freeze) and gain more control over how you respond to stress. We may also look into somatic practices, like breathwork, mindfulness, and movement, to help the body process and discharge deeply ingrained reactions that are beyond the reach of conscious thought.