I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) with over 25 years in the field of mental health. An LCSW is one of several choices you have when seeking a psychotherapist. All disciplines have a unique approach to mental health and wellness, so knowing a bit about my training, theoretical orientation, and personality can help you consider if I might be the right fit for you or your family.

I have a Bachelor's degree from UC San Diego and completed a Master’s Degree in Social Work at UCLA shortly thereafter. Over the 15 years post graduation, I gained extensive clinical and supervisorial experience in directly operated programs for Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health. In the past ten years, I’ve grown a busy private counseling and coaching practice working with adults, children, couples and families with a special interest in life transitions (leaving college and entering the workforce, life after a divorce, life after a major loss or break up, life after leaving a treatment center program, etc), anxiety and depressive disorders, and assertive communication/healthy boundaries in family systems. I am Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) trained and incorporate these principles in much of my work with those suffering from higher acuity symptoms, especially in the earlier phases of treatment.

I am a certified Family Mediator working with families before and during a divorce process, often in collaboration with family attorneys, to create cooperative co-parenting contracts so as to minimize the trauma and rupture of divorce for the children.

I do speaking engagements and offer training for organizations and conferences on such topics as short term goal directed family therapy, mood disorders in transition aged youth, and the impact of early attachment injuries on the development of healthy relationships.

My communication style is direct, but equally warm, empathic, and relatable, sometimes using humor to help create a setting where you can feel comfortable and safe to be vulnerable and honest. I welcome you to learn more about me and my practice by calling or emailing me, and thank you for visiting my website.