Description
I want to welcome you on your first step in your Mental Wellness Journey! As a therapist, my goal is to provide a space for you to be authentically who you are, provide support during the hard times, ask tough questions when necessary, and work with you to find practical solutions to your challenges. I aim to forge a deep and trusting relationship, so that you feel comfortable discussing your most protected thoughts and feelings. There are no quick fixes, but emphasizing life skills, heightening self-awareness, and connecting deeply with yourself and others can be key in building wholeness in mind, body and spirit. My goal is for clients to feel seen, safe, and secure in our work together.
As a woman of color, I am passionate about breaking the mental health stigma and work with individuals who have experienced oppression, subtle or blatant discrimination and racism, or struggle with integrating into your professional life as a minority.
My focus is with adolescents and adults addressing Trauma, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and related anxiety disorders, Depression, Self-esteem, Racial issues and experiences, and Substance use. I incorporate Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Exposure Response Prevention (ERP) for anxiety disorders; tailoring each treatment episode to match the needs of each client.
In addition, I am a certified Brainspotting therapist. Brainspotting is a brain-based psychotherapy approach that uses your field of vision to find where a person holds trauma or any negative experience in their brain. Brainspotting produces rapid, deep and permanent change; lasering right in on the issue and bringing up everything that is associated with trauma, anxiety, depression, relationships etc., and lets your brain process from the inside out which talk therapy cannot accomplish.
I have held several positions in clinical settings in both therapeutic and management roles. I served as the Director of Mental Health at a co-occurring in-patient residential treatment center for youth, Program Manager for a Community Based Substance Abuse Program, and Clinical Director at a residential treatment center for young women survivors of Sex Trafficking and Substance Abuse. I have also supervised Marriage and Family Therapist Interns in multiple settings.
I earned my Master’s Degree in Clinical Psychology from Azusa Pacific University and have been working in the mental health field for over 11 years with several of those years working for Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health.