We begin our time together getting to know you—not just what brings you to therapy, but how you understand yourself, your relationships, and the experiences that have shaped you. I see therapy as a collaborative process in which you are the expert on your own experience, while I bring clinical knowledge, curiosity, and perspective to help us make sense of it together. Rather than fitting you into a particular theory or treatment, I draw from different approaches and work with you to find what best serves our progress. I do not work neutrally, but intentionally with affirmation, love and care.
My approach integrates psychodynamic, mindfulness and somatic-based therapies, including Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), motivational interviewing (MI), and Accelerated Experiential Dynamic Psychotherapy (AEDP). I am interested in both present moment experiential work, and investigating the past and its impact on the patterns that show up in our day-to-day thoughts, relationships, and experiences. I incorporate a neuroscientific lens informed by my master’s in neurocognitive psychology, which helps us consider how the nervous system, psychological experiences, and our environments continually interact. My goal is not simply to understand these connections, but to use them to help you develop greater awareness, flexibility, meaning and compassion in everyday life.
Grounded in a trauma-informed framework, I bring clinical expertise to treating anxiety, depression, chronic stress, PTSD, substance use, relationship difficulties, and life transitions. My experience spans community mental health, addiction rehabilitation, Veterans Affairs settings, and major academic medical centers including NYU Langone and Stanford Medical School, working with individuals from a vast array of backgrounds and circumstances. This work has reinforced that meaningful therapy begins with a genuine relationship—one where you can feel understood, challenged when helpful, and supported as we figure out what comes next.
My own path has taken me across different communities and cultures. I trained in clinical psychology in California, received a Fulbright fellowship in Sri Lanka studying Buddhist philosophy, and completed my masters in neuroscience in Munich, Germany. These experiences have shaped my curiosity about how various people cultivate meaning, and have influenced my individualized therapeutic approach that maintains openness rather than assumption.
Outside of the therapy setting, you might find me at the beach surfing, in a coffee shop reading, on a trail hiking with my fiancé and dog, or in my apartment attempting to draw or paint. Starting our work together can feel like a vulnerable step, but you do not need to arrive with great clarity or a distinct plan. We can start wherever you are, get to know one another, and figure out where to go from there.