Welcome!
It is my hope in our work together that I can help you build somatic awareness and understanding of long-standing patterns that were once adaptive and protective but now may be hindering your ability to live life fully. To me, therapy is all about relationships. It is a space to explore where you are, where you came from, and what holds you back from where you'd like to go. One of the wonderful things about therapy is that we can use the relationship between you and me when the issues you’re working on show up in the here and now. It gives me an opportunity to respond to you in a way that gives you support and useful feedback.
I’m happy to be living back in Seattle, my hometown, after 8 years in San Francisco. In my free time, I love to run and be outdoors—it is my favorite way to relax and recharge. I value my time with my partner, family and friends, and am very lucky to be the dog mom to my rescued dog, Freddy Loo!
My Approach
I approach therapy from a biopsychosocial model to attend to your mind, body, and heart to create greater resilience and a deeper connection with yourself and with others. I draw from a variety of concepts and methods such as attachment theory, relational psychoanalysis, internal family systems, somatic therapy, as well as concepts from interpersonal neurobiology which confirm our need for relatedness and safety. As a strengths-based therapist, I encourage you to build on your strengths and resources rather than focus on your problems and limitations. Additionally, I employ the practices and principles of Ecopsychology, which recognizes that our inner world and the outer world are deeply connected. As a result, my therapeutic approach is integrative and the therapeutic process looks different for each person. With relationships and couples I use an Emotionally Focused Therapy approach. I am constantly learning and evolving by staying up to date in the therapy field. In all my work, I bring an acute consideration of the cultural intersections of both myself and the individuals I work with, including an awareness for the way our societal systems (such as social, cultural, political, family history, etc.) impact us deeply on a personal level.
I earned my doctorate in Clinical Psychology from The Wright Institute in Berkeley, CA and completed my pre-doctoral internship in Health Service Psychology at the University of San Francisco’s Counseling and Psychological Services. Following internship, I completed a one-year postdoctoral fellowship at The Seattle Clinic, where I received specialized training in Functional Analytic Psychotherapy (FAP), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and Emotionally-Focused Therapy for couples (EFT).
I have experience providing psychological evaluations to asylum seekers; presenting on becoming a climate-aware therapist and treating climate distress in a college setting; consultation on diversity, equity, and belonging to technology companies and non-profit organizations; and trainings focused on mindfulness and self-regulation through the University of California San Francisco’s (UCSF) BrainChange study. My research and interests include understanding the impact climate change has on mental health, including eco-anxiety and ecological grief, as well as the clinical psychology responses to the climate crisis.