My practice is driven by my beliefs about life and living and informed by my professional experiences and intensive training. I consider the match between client and therapist to be the most important component to successful therapy. While in my office, I will work with you to explore and confront the emotional and interpersonal challenges that are bringing you pain or holding you back. Starting therapy for the first time or deciding to begin working with a new therapist can often feel intimidating. Knowing this, I make it my mission to ensure that my clients feel comfortable and safe in my office from the first moment we meet.

I engaged in research focusing on self-differentiation, relationship satisfaction, couples therapy, and sex therapy while in graduate school. As a clinical intern at the USC Counseling Center, I worked with a diverse group of undergraduate and graduate students. I provided short-term individual therapy using a variety of clinical approaches, including short-term psychodynamic therapy and cognitive behavioral therapy. As an intern at the Southern California Counseling Center, I worked with a culturally diverse clientele ranging in age from three to seventy. I conducted both short-term and long-term individual psychotherapy – in addition to family and couples therapy. I completed my final pre-doctoral internship and post-doctoral training at the Saturday Center for Psychotherapy in Santa Monica. Over the course of this two year training program I provided long-term, insight-oriented psychotherapy to adults, adolescents, and couples.

Stemming from my interest in the person-of-the-therapist and the personal qualities of therapists that impact the effectiveness of psychotherapy, my doctoral dissertation investigated the impact of graduate school on therapists’ emotional development.

Additionally, during my graduate program I assisted in research focusing on self-differentiation, relationship satisfaction, and couple and sex therapy. I aided in the development of the Crucible Differentiation Scale®, a reliable and valid instrument for measuring self-differentiation, and helped my supervisor conduct the Kentucky School of Choice Research Study funded by John Schnatter.

I have been a dedicated member of several professional organizations since I began my career in psychology, including:

• American Psychological Association
• California Psychological Association
• Los Angeles County Psychological Association