Professional Info:
I am very interactive during our sessions and enjoy helping my clients tap into their innate gifts. My clients tell me they appreciate my interactive style. Clients also say they appreciate a neutral third party that can give them expert feedback-which makes the counseling relationship uniquely different than any other relationship with your friends or family. I collaborate WITH my clients rather than talk AT them.
I tailor the methods I use depending on the situation and individual involved. I also believe that a skilled therapist offers more feedback than “uh-huh, tell me more.”
I have post-graduate training in trauma issues, pregnancy adjustment, postpartum issues, attachment therapy, attachment parenting, crime survivors, adult abuse survivors, sand tray therapy, play therapy, premarital counseling (PREPARE-ENRICH) and anxiety. I also have specific training from Phyllis Klaus in working with childbirth trauma and the adjustment of sexual abuse survivors during the pregnancy and postpartum period.
Before private practice I gained extensive experience with varied populations including:
-CSUS Women’s Resource Center/LGBTQ Resource Center
-Jewish Family Service as a counselor and high school after school program coordinator/group counselor.
-AFTER Counseling Agency working with foster children, abuse survivors, children with attachment disorders and PTSD, depression, anxiety and family reunification.
-Kids’ Turn divorce education programs.
-Placer County Adult System of Care with both senior citizens and individuals coping with mental illness such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
I hold a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a master’s degree in Counseling. I am a licensed marriage & family therapist (MFC#43983) and I regularly take quality continuing education classes and consult with colleagues as a way of maintaining a high quality of care for my clients. I have worked in this field since 2000 in both Sacramento and Placer counties. Because of this I have unique insight and information about our community’s mental health and court systems that can be helpful during times of transition and difficulty. I have experience supporting people going through difficult interactions with the court system including testifying against a crime perpetrator.
Examples of interventions I use are:
Cognitive behavioral therapy. This technique helps correct underlying painful and usually incorrect assumptions about your relationships and how you interact with the world. This technique has been well studied and has documented effectiveness for things like depression, anxiety, trauma, and chronic pain/health issues.
EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing): EMDR has been shown to be effective dealing with issues such as trauma, PTSD, pain, anxiety, and peak performance athletics. It is thought that EMDR works by helping your brain move a trauma from the “short term” memory center (where the memory could cause symptoms and distress) to the “long term” memory center, helping to resolve the symptoms associated with the memory. I am certified in EMDR, which means I went above and beyond the initial training and received several hours of mentoring and consultation to ensure quality of care for my clients.
Family systems work including Gottman and Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) interventions are often helpful for couples and individuals break out of relationship patterns that are causing pain. With these interventions I help couples externalize the problem and make it one they can work on together, instead of attacking each other.
Insight-oriented depth psychotherapy to help address underlying dysfunctional patterns of emotions and relationships.
As a therapist I have proudly provided volunteer pro bono services for the Give An Hour program for active duty military personnel and also volunteered for Solace for Mothers, a non profit aimed at raising awareness around birth trauma. I care deeply about the missions of both of these programs-serving our military personnel and families.
Personal info:
When I’m not at work I love spending time with my daughter, husband and family enjoying the outdoors and the many amenities Northern California has to offer. I love being physically active and enjoy working out, dance, yoga, snorkeling and scuba diving. For some reason stray dogs in need of rescue keep finding their way to my home-so we enjoy spending time with our adopted dogs.
