About Me

I am a Licensed Marriage Family Therapist, Licensed Educational Psychologist, Certified Massage Therapist, Visceral Manipulation Therapist, Cranio-Sacral Therapist, and Trauma Specialist with a comprehensive practice in South Orange County, California. I have been practicing in the field for over two decades. I have worked in Langley Porter Psychiatric Unit at UCSF, San Francisco Runaway Shelters, Group Homes, Emancipation Houses, multiple educational settings, Children and Youth Services of Orange County, The Hospice of Marin, the Orange County Gay and Lesbian Center as well as in conjunction with many health providers from MDs and Integrative Medicine Specialists. I see children, teens, adults, couples, and families with a wide variety of concerns and issues. I have specializations in the areas of disability, trauma, chronic illness, chronic pain, catastrophic illness and loss, grief, special education, sexuality/gender sex positivity, and alternative family/lifestyle issues.

Additionally, my practice includes a special interest in working with the unique needs of individuals with invisible disabilities, disabilities, families adjusting to disabilities, medical issues, chronic/catastrophic illness and loss, as well as the unique concerns facing the LGBTQIA+ & Alternative Lifestyle and Polyamorous Communities as well as individuals involved in the entertainment and creative arts.

I utilize a multifaceted treatment style that I tailor-make to each person I work with. This includes:

Modern Psychodynamic Psychotherapy

Modern psychodynamic psychotherapy understands that we are the sum of our parts which encompass the embryonic stages, childhood stages and our adult stages coalescing into conceptualizations, accurate/inaccurate, good/bad or indifferent all of which lead us to formulate belief systems that may serve to safeguard the many defense mechanisms that exist within us allowing us to bypass the True Self. The True Self lies beneath these defense mechanisms, which are faulty storylines employed to hide the true traumas encased within its core. Most often, the faulty storylines and defense mechanisms are what get in the way of our familial and romantic relationships. Thus, embarking upon the journey to “Know thy Self” is more than just a profound journey, it is also an investment in the longevity of your relationships from your family to your children to your partnerships. 

Trauma-Related Therapy Techniques

Visceral Manipulation

Visceral Manipulation is a somata-emotional approach discovered and developed by French Osteopath John Pierre Barral, DO, MRO(F), RPT. 

The body retains the memory of physical or emotional trauma. During intense, stressful situations the brain passes the excess stress onto the organs, whose fibrous matter records the emotion. This inspires a psychosomatic reaction creating a permanent “emotion-organ-behavior-organ” cycle. 

“Viscera” describes the internal organs of the body. Visceral Manipulation (VM) is a soft touch manual therapy that aids your body to release restrictions and unhealthy compensations that cause pain and dysfunction. Visceral Manipulation does not solely rely on the site of the pain, but evaluates the entire body to find the source of the problem. 

It is well documented that our emotions have an enormous impact on how our body functions. This is very much due to how receptive our organs are to our feelings. Thus, when trauma occurs in a person’s life, whether physically, emotionally, or cognitively, practitioners can access the trauma through the body, assisting clients in finding relief, effectively bypassing the direct discussion of the recurrent trauma. This modality is very effective for clients whose trauma happened at preverbal times or where catastrophic illness rendered the client nonverbal. 

CranioSacral Therapy is a somata-emotional approach discovered and developed by American Osteopath John Upledger, DO, OMM.

The Central Nervous system has quite an influence over your health and well-being. The CranioSacral system is one of the most important body systems that can have an impact on your Central Nervous System. The CranioSacral System is made up of the soft tissues and fluid that protect your brain and spinal cord. 

Because your body constantly endures stresses and strains both physically and mentally, your body must absorb them. Unfortunately, your body can only handle so much of the tension before the tissues begin to tighten and potentially affect the brain and spinal cord. This can compromise the function of the Central Nervous System and nearly every other system of your body.

Craniosacral Therapy practitioners observe your body’s tensions to evaluate your internal environment then use a light touch technique to release restrictions made by physical, environmental, and emotional occurrences.