Brief Professional Bio
My early clinical work (2001 – 2007) centered on the treatment of underserved adolescents/young adults in inpatient, residential, outpatient, school-based, and home settings in culturally diverse, urban cities across the country, including Memphis, Tennessee, Little Rock, Arkansas, Boston, Massachusetts; and Los Angeles, California.
In 2008, I became licensed as an MFT in California. I began working with the UCLA-Santa Monica Medical Center’s Rape Treatment Center, where I offered crisis intervention, group therapy, bystander intervention and sexual violence prevention education for children and adults until 2017.
Given my education, training, and professional experience supporting those who have experienced child sexual abuse and/or gender-based violence, my therapy approach is firmly grounded in Feminist Theory. I stand with feminist scholar and anti-pornography activist Dr. Gail Dines in viewing internet pornography as a significant “public health crisis” and support Culture Reframed, her organization that helps adults guide youth growing up in a “pornified culture” to learn about healthy sexuality, intimacy, and relationships. I hold the pornography/sex industry responsible for grossly eroticizing sexual violence and perpetuating the global escalation of sexual abuse. https://www.culturereframed.org/
I maintain a full-time online private practice and also provide clinical supervision and consultation for pre-licensed and/or licensed therapists.
Brief Personal Bio
During my early adolescence, I was treated for eating disorders, substance addictions, and chronic major depression/anxiety. Most of my young adulthood was colored by big, overwhelming emotions and confusing abusive relational dynamics. The secure relationship I formed with my therapist during those years helped me survive that time – and enabled me to feel “safe enough” to reach out for professional help again and again, throughout my life. It was also the catalyst for my life-long interest in psychology and my pursuit of training in the art and science of psychotherapy.
At 43 years old, in the process of seeking professional consultation about the differential diagnosis of Complex Post-Traumatic Stress and Autism Spectrum Conditions, I discovered my own identity as a neurodivergent, Autistic woman. This awakening has expanded my clinical focus toward helping other adult autistics process, understand, and embrace this rich identity.
I have a specific interest in providing consultation for trauma and addiction professionals working with women with CPTSD to better recognize neuro-distinct presentations and assess for patterns that may indicate a long-standing, missed clinical ADD/ASC diagnosis.
I find a lot of joy in connecting with people’s special interests and sharing my own. 🙂
