It all started when…

Like many of my clients, I’ve had a long and winding journey full of ups and downs to arrive at today, to this moment. After a number of life transitions and a thirty-year career in the entertainment business, I made the decision to follow my passion for helping people, a passion that I’ve had since I was a teenager, and return to school to become a therapist. I feel that my skills and life experience help me meet my clients wherever they are and enable me to hold whatever comes up in our sessions together. I’m deeply attuned, highly empathetic, playful & funny, compassionate, irreverent, deeply thoughtful, insightful, non-judgmental, and humble.

CLINICAL

Affirmative Psychotherapy, Hollywood, California (2022)

Tree of Life Healing Pasadena, California (2019-2022)

Marriage & Family Therapist Registered Associate #112620

 I provide individual, couple/family, and adolescent/tween psychotherapy in my private practice located in Pasadena, California. My approach and specializations include Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Psychodynamic Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), and Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing Therapy (EMDR) dependent on the needs of my clients.

Marriage & Family Therapist Trainee and Associate (2017-2019) Open Paths Counseling Center, Culver City, California

I maintained a client load of 10-14 clients throughout my time at the counseling center working from a Psychodynamic approach synthesized with DBT, under the supervision of Marli Kakishima, LMFT (#48679) and Zari Hedayat, Ph.D., LMFT (#22248). My clients included Adolescents, Adults, and Couples dealing with Depression, Anxiety, BPD, Bi-Polar I & II, Complex Trauma, Sexual Trauma, Childhood Trauma, Traumatic Grief & Loss, and Relational Issues. While at OPCC, I also created and facilitated a weekly Women’s Sexual Trauma Process Group, and helped redesign and implement the updated counseling center website.

EDUCATION

California Institute of The Arts (1984), Valencia, California-Master of Fine Arts degree in Stage/Theatre Management (Minor in Lighting Design)

 Antioch University (2018), Los Angeles, California: Master of Arts Degree in Clinical Psychology (Psychological Trauma Specialization)

TRAINING

Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing (EMDR) Training Level I & II (Trauma Recovery/EMDRIA 2019)

Introduction to Working with Dissociative Identity Disorder. Cristina Mardirossian, LMFT (2019)

Working with Dissociative Identity Disorder Part II: Treating Ritual Abuse. Cristina Mardirossian, LMFT (2020)

Working With Adult Childhood Sexual Abuse Survivors From A Structural Dissociation Perspective (“parts work"). Cristina Mardirossian, LMFT (2020)

Working with Parts in Dissociative Disorders: A Practical Guide for EMDR Therapists. Dolores Mosquera, MS.

The Wisdom of The Body (SP Introduction) Pat Ogden, Ph.D.

Understanding and Addressing Hopelessness & Helplessness through the

the lens of Sensorimotor Psychotherapy. Pat Ogden Ph.D., and Bonnie Goldstein, Ph.D.

Dissociation and The Body. Parts I and II. Pat Ogden, Ph.D.

Sensorimotor Psychotherapy in Context: Sociocultural Perspectives. Pat Ogden

DBT Skills Intensive with Marsha Linehan, Ph.D., ABPP. / Behavioral Tech (2018)

Trauma Focused-Cognitive Behavioral Psychotherapy Certification (National Child Traumatic Stress Network 2017)

Principles of Group Psychotherapy. Group Psychotherapy Association of Los Angeles (GPALA 2017)

Board of Directors, Los Angeles Chapter, California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists

Executive Board Member and Chairperson, Special Interest Groups and Special Events, LA-CAMFT (2021) Chairperson, Somatic Special Interest Group, LA-CAMFT (2019)

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists

American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy

Los Angeles Chapter, California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists

Group Psychotherapy Association of Los Angeles

The American Group Psychotherapy Association

The International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation

The United States Association of Body Psychotherapy

The International Institute for Trauma and Addiction Professionals

EMDR International Association (EMDRIA)

Specialties

• Complex Trauma and PTSD

• Childhood Trauma

• Addiction

• Depression and Anxiety

• Mood and Personality Disorders

• Suicidal Ideation and Self Harm

Other Issues

• Behavioral Issues

• Bipolar Disorder

• Borderline Personality

• Chronic Illness

• Life Transitions

• Relational Issues

• Traumatic Grief and Loss