Welcome, I’m honored you’re here!
About Me
I'm a first-generation woman of color. I grew up between worlds, loving my culture and family, and often feeling different and out of place. I'm a highly sensitive person (HSP), diagnosed with ADHD later than most, and I know what it's like to move through life without the words for how your own mind works and to quietly assume you're the problem.
For a long time I felt too much and not enough at the same time, and I was hard on myself because of that.
I share this for one reason. It can help to be guided by someone who's experienced struggle and come out the other side steadier.
You don't have to share any of my story for this to be your place. But if some of it sounds familiar, you're in good company.
Experience
Before I became a therapist, I had two very different types of professional experiences that ultimately served as one long apprenticeship for this work. The first was intimate and one-on-one: working with survivors of assault, asylum seekers, and incarcerated youth. The second was on a much bigger stage: nearly fifteen years in international development and corporate social impact, leading work on the ground in Africa, India, and Indonesia, alongside people from more than forty countries.
Throughout both experiences, I continued to find myself drawn to the weight of what people carry and the power of their resilience. Whether sitting with one person or standing inside a massive institution, the human right in front of me always mattered most. Therapy is where my instinct finally found its full expression.
Approach
What it’s like to work with me
I practice somatic therapy because lasting change rarely comes from pushing through. The work starts with your body, at a pace your nervous system can keep up with, so that when something big comes up we can understand the part driving it instead of talking you out of it. I don't rely on just one method, because no one approach fits every person or every moment. My work is grounded in the neuroscience of the nervous system, in learning small tools you can use in the middle of a hard moment, not just in theory, and ultimately helping you heal over time. The aim is simple: to help you feel a little less at war with yourself, and a little more able to move with what life brings. So you can laugh, cry, breathe, and just be yourself.
Credentials, Specialized Training, and Therapeutic Influences
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I draw on a handful of approaches and lean on whichever fits the moment. I believe in using multiple modalities. These are the modalities I most frequently use:
EMDR: (in training through EMDR Consulting). Helps your brain finish processing experiences that got stuck, so they stop negatively affecting you.
Internal Family Systems (IFS-Informed): A way of working with the parts of you that formed to protect you, including the ones still carrying old burdens.
Somatic and nervous-system work: Working with the body directly, for what talking alone can't always accomplish.
Attachment Needs and Theory: Making sense of the patterns in how we connect, and where they came from.
Mindfulness: Small, practical tools you can use in the middle of a hard moment.
Emotional Intelligence: Learning to name what you feel, so your feelings inform you instead of owning you.
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I'm a Licensed Social Worker Associate, Independent Clinical (LSWAIC) in Washington State, license No. SWIA.SC.70057665, practicing under the supervision of Horizon Greene, LICSW/LCSW #60984945.
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Undergraduate:
University of California, Irvine: Psychology of Social Behavior
Graduate Degree:
Columbia University: Masters in Social Work & Master of Public Health
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Certified mindfulness facilitator through Google's Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute.
EMDR In Training: 50 hour training through EMDR Consulting
IFS Informed Training through Tori Olds
Vipassana 10-day Silent Meditation Retreat
Training in supporting sexual assault survivors.
Outside the therapy room
I'm almost always in the middle of a book. I read plenty of nonfiction, but my real love is getting lost in a story, especially historical fiction.
I'm neurodiverse yet hyper-organized, probably more than is good for me. I love connecting deeply with people, but I'm a true introvert. I'm a bit goofy, and I also love being grounded and dialed into an experience.
What you get with me: I sometimes sit on the floor while we work, I laugh easily, even in the middle of a meditation, I am a bit goofy, and I care more about being real with you than being polished. Mostly, I love to laugh, and I love to listen.
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I'm a serial rewatcher: The Office and Parks and Rec on a loop (I am, for better or worse, truly a Leslie Knope), plus This Is Us, Ted Lasso, Shrinking, and Schitt's Creek.
They show the beauty of people and give me all the feels, in the best way.
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I love podcasts. Some of my favorites are: Glennon Doyle's We Can Do Hard Things, Amy Poehler’s Good Hang, Chelsea Devantez’s Glamorous Trash.
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Cappuccino with almond milk, or a mocha if I'm feeling fun. If I want something cool, an iced green tea!
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Chocolate Chip Cookies.
No nuts, no oats. Classic is the most delicious.
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Andrea Gibson, Mary Oliver, and Yung Pueblo
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Too many to think of! But some recent favorites are: The Island of Missing Trees, Remarkable Bright Creatures, and the History of Burning
If reading this made you feel seen, reach out.
We’ll begin with a short call, just a conversation to see if we're a good fit.