Before entering private practice, I worked as a therapist at the Golden Gate Integral Counseling Center. I began seeing clients in 2014, providing individual and couples therapy to a diverse population of clients navigating anxiety, grief, trauma, relationship challenges, identity exploration, and major life transitions. My work there deepened my foundation in integral and somatic psychotherapy, approaches that consider the whole person and recognize the connection between our emotional experiences, relationships, identities, and bodies.

The Center for Mindful Psychotherapy is a non-profit collective of ~125 Associate & Licensed Marriage and Family Therapists dedicated to providing holistic, mindful care. Working alongside other thoughtful and skilled therapists, this is where I further developed my approach to therapy grounded in mindfulness & somatic awareness. This is also where I gained valuable experience providing LGBTQ+ affirming therapy. Working here strengthened my ability to integrate mindfulness and body-based awareness into therapy to help clients move beyond simply understanding their patterns intellectually, and begin experiencing change on a deeper level.

At Josie’s Place (now a part of Sunset Services) I had the privilege of supporting recently bereaved children and families as they navigated the profound changes that follow the death of someone they love. This work gave me meaningful experience with the ways grief can show up emotionally, physically, relationally, and differently across ages and stages of life.

Working closely with grieving children and families deepened my understanding of grief and bereavement and continues to shape my work as a grief therapist in Oakland, CA. I learned the importance of creating space for grief without trying to rush, fix, or make meaning of it. I learned ways to incorporate ritual and remembering into the healing process. Today I bring that experience into my work with supporting adults experiencing loss, bereavement, anticipatory grief, and major life transitions.

I completed my training in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing in 2022. EMDR is a trauma informed approach that helps the brain and body process expereinces that may still feel unresolved or “stuck”. Rather than relying on talking alone, EMDR uses bilateral stimulation while gently attending to memories, emotions, beliefs, and sensations connected to difficult experiences.

I integrate EMDR with Somatic Therapy, paying close attention to what is happening in the body and nervous system throughout the process. This can help you notice and work with physical responses connected to trauma, such as tension, numbness, activation, and the urge to shut down, while moving at a pace that feels safe and manageable.

Together, EMDR and Somatic Therapy can support deeper processing of trauma, anxiety, grief, and painful past experiences, helping those experiences feel less present and allowing you to feel more grounded and connected to yourself.

Alongside my education and training as a Psychotherapist, I worked as a Massage and Craniosacral Therapist. I provided therapeutic massage, a highly individualized, anatomy-informed approach focused on addressing each clients unique pain patterns. Unlike a standard spa massage, this work required careful assessment technical knowledge of the body, and a responsive approach tailored to what each person’s body was communicating.

This experience gave me a deep appreciation for the ways out bodies process and communicate our experiences. This work has taught me to pay close attention to subtle shifts in tension, breath, movement, sensation and the nervous system, and to approach the body with curiosity & responsiveness rather than force or control.

By bringing together my psychotherapy training with years of experience in body-based practices, I offer an approach that goes beyond insight alone. I help clients develop greater awareness of their bodies and learn to recognize the physical cues that can accompany emotions, stress, anxiety, grief, trauma, and dysmorphia.