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My experience includes:
  • LMFT, California Board of Behavioral Science; MA, Counseling Psychology, JFK University​
  • Certified MBSR Instructor, trained at UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness
  • Private practice & community counseling center therapy
  • Advanced Training in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)
  • ​Expressive Arts Therapy specialization 
  • Counselor in 3 elementary & middle school districts
  • Cofounder & Board member:  Nonprofit advocacy group, Collaborative Community Program, San Jose, CA
  • Former writer / Public school art consultant / Parent participation education participant & board member 
  • Research assistant, clinical psychology
  • Bachelor of Arts, Philosophy, UC Berkeley; MA, Counseling Psychology, JFK University

I've worked with adults and children throughout my adult life, since beginning my post-college career as a journalist. I took a long journalism break to be at-home mom of three children (now grown), working in schools for 12 years before going back to school in counseling.  My early passion for writing and expressive arts evolved through experiences with chronic illness and child-rearing, eventually fueling my fascination with the many ways people learn (and create) to navigate through life's challenges.  Thus began my "post-kids" return to graduate school in counseling psychology.   Here I had the chance to learn even more about the ways people use ideas, wisdom and creativity to broaden their sense of themselves as part of the larger world, in order to overcome problems and live life fully.  

As a school counselor for three years, I worked with children of diverse cultures and backgrounds.  There I saw up close the impact of multiple stressors on underserved families, and subsequently I helped form a non-profit, family advocacy and mentoring program in San Jose.  I continue to work there with families seeking to overcome socio-economic stressors that impact young students' achievement.

My experience as a therapist working with people facing serious challenges has taught me that we all are the foremost experts in our own lives.  When working with others, together we can best understand problems within social / cultural contexts of gender, race, and ethnic background.  

In private practice, I work primarily with adults dealing with life-direction challenges affected by anxiety, depression, self-doubt or fear. 

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Most recently, as a certified MBSR instructor, I have brought learnings from Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction into my work.  MBSR teaches mindfulness meditation and movement to help people deal more effectively with stress-related health problems.  Mindfulness and self-compassion practices offer ways to step back from anxiety and rumination, and gain a larger, kinder perspective and appreciation of what's possible by living moment to moment, even in the face of serious challenges.