Online Integrative Psychotherapy
How does therapy work?
We begin at the surface getting acclimated and then delve in more deeply as you are ready. I understand that the therapy process can be intimidating for some and there is no one-size-fits-all approach.
I provide an integrative blend of psychotherapy approaches tailored for each individual or couple. Throughout all of my work with clients, I believe in the healing power of honoring your own inner voice, passions, strength, intuition, culture and values as your guide.
The clients who benefit the most are committed to personal growth and deepening their understanding of both themselves and their personal relationships.
Individual psychoTherapy
My clients come to me looking for extra support in the following areas (click the arrows to read more):
Have others ever said you were "too sensitive" or "too emotional," because they didn't understand your feelings? Perhaps you've noticed that energy of environments and moods of others affect you deeply and you often feel that you take on others' emotions and hurts as if they were your own. Maybe the emotional intensity you feel at times overwhelms your ability to stay centered. If any of these feel familiar, you might be a Highly Sensitive Person (HSP), and this is not a bad thing.
People who tend to be Highly Sensitive have a unique set of strengths and challenges, and tend to feel greater well-being when they learn to more deeply understand, honor and work with their nature rather than judging it and fighting against it.
I understand and work with HSPs like you to better recognize and attend to your own needs, including how to lovingly protect your sensitive energy field, how to discern "your" emotions from those of others you care for, and I support you in recognizing when you need to say no as an act of self-compassion (and feel good about it). If this resonates, you are in the right place :)
Anxiety appears in our lives in a variety of forms and levels of severities. Anxiety might express itself in the form of:
Panic, chronic worry, what-ifs, over-thinking, overwhelm, emotional meltdowns, compulsions, addictions, relationship conflict, people pleasing, short temper, feeling disconnected, feeling needy, high sensitivity to environment, performance anxiety, sexual issues, self-doubt, indecision, low self-worth, challenging relational and family dynamics, codependency, trouble sleeping, nightmares, physical health concerns, somatization, perfectionism, procrastination and much more.
Severe anxiety can be frightening, overwhelming, and paralyzing. It can build over time or come on suddenly with many stressors, pressures, & expectations, "trying to keep it all together," or trying to please everyone (but yourself).
I am here to support you and help you rediscover your calm, centered inner guidance system, work through and understand the anxiety at its roots rather than disregarding it or letting those anxious parts of your psyche run your life. I offer a variety of strategies, tools, and exercises to help people who struggle with anxiety reclaim their lives, learning new ways of regulating it, and experience relief in both the short term and long term.
Whether the spark has significantly dampened or emotional reactivity has one or both of you acting in ways you are not proud of, sounds like your relationship is asking for attention, reconnection, and nurturance. Often couples who love each other deeply can find themselves stuck in impasse, where each partner feels unseen, unheard and unappreciated, thereby reacting, getting defensive, pleading or avoiding, tuning each other out, or turning their attention outside the relationship.
Misunderstandings, assumptions, and resentment build which erode intimacy. Integrating a combination of techniques, I help partners communicate their feelings and be heard by one another, facilitate understanding and compasssion, neutralize built-up resentment, so you can again experience connection and the enjoyment of your partner's beloved qualities. Straight, gay and lesbian couples welcome. You may choose to attend together or to work on the concerns individually.
What were the messages you received about sex growing up? Many people received more negative and confusing messages, and that it was something "you don't talk about," leaving people to unreliable sources of information or confusing early experiences.
Many people also have experienced some degree of sexual trauma, which can profoundly affect their sense of self, their intimate relationships with others, their sense of healthy sexuality, etc. Understandably, it can feel especially difficult to talk about if trust has been broken by people they felt they were supposed to trust, or when they've tried confiding in someone and they didn't believe or protect them.
Due to a variety of circumstances, sexual issues and trauma are often left unresolved and unhealed. If this rings true for you, I invite you to take the next step and talk with me. I am here to support your healing and to help you feel safe and good in your body again.
You entered into your field because you wanted to help people. It gives you a sense of purpose, deep satisfaction and meaning in life. It’s no accident that you were called to your vocation.
Perhaps others in your family were also in the healing and helping professions, or perhaps you were the person in your family growing up that acted as the peacemaker, or protected or looked after others. Or maybe you witnessed others such as your parents or grandparents deeply suffering or ill and wanted to be able to help more, but didn’t have the means to. Or maybe you yourself have gone through trauma, addiction, and tough times and through personal work, came out strong on the other side and now want to help others. You answered the call.
Now you are successfully helping and responding to others who need your expertise and support, but you find yourself feeling more tired than you used to. Sometimes you feel you just don’t have the bandwidth, patience or energy expected of you. You might feel like you've lost your spark and joy and find yourself gettting more easily irritated, frustrated, and judging yourself harshly. You try to "pick yourself up by your boot straps and soldier on" but the feeling continues.
You’ve heard “put your own oxygen mask on first." Allow me to help you with your "oxygen mask" and revision a new approach and concept to self-care that enlivens and recharges your body and soul. In turn, you will have much more energy and presence to offer to those you tend to.
Note: I understand the complexities & delicate nature of your field and I offer you safe, confidential, non-judgmental presence to process and release the weight you've been carrying about your experiences.
While there are many organic causes for health symptoms, there are also mental/emotional/spiritual/energetic aspects that contribute to physical dis-comfort and dis-ease. Using specialized mind-body techniques and other somatic approaches along with mindfulness and wellness health coaching, I can work in conjunction with your physcial health professionals to support your overall health and wellbeing by addressing these emotional aspects, understand what your body may be communicating.
I help people who are exploring their family ancestry, either through DNA or genealogy research, to process and integrate their new discoveries, some of which may be exciting and others that may difficult and challenge what they thought they knew about their family and identity.
Ancestral work can address the deeper questions around who we are and how we came to be the way we are by providing more contextual clues and a way of understanding of ourselves through the multigenerational and epigenetic influences and patterns of our family system.
As a former professor in family systems therapy with a personal passion for genealogy and intuitive ancestral healing, I provide expertise, support, guidance, and insight through the exploration process and help facilitate growth and healing of current and past relationships.
You've grown up in a culture, or several, different than your national and or cultural roots, and feel like you don't quite fit in anywhere. It's challenging to feel like someone else gets you and your challenges, often including your own family.
People who identify as TCKs have a unique set of strengths, experiences, perspectives, opportunites as well as specific challenges.
I understand and work with many TCKs and people who live or have lived in several countries and/or between different cultures. I'm here to support you and explore how your experiences shaped your inner experience, capitalize on the strengths you developed, and to help unpack, understand and heal the traumatic aspects.
I help my clients feel expansive enough to make choices based on what is genuine, rather than feeling weighed down by old conditioning/social pressure/people-pleasing. Often, even after just one or two sessions, my clients tell me that they "feel like a weight has been lifted off."
To find out if I might be a good match as your therapist, or to decide whether psychotherapy or coaching is the right choice for you, click here to schedule a complimentary 15-minute consultation.
Or are you ready to dive-in and get started with your first appointment?
Couples Counseling
I provide support for straight, gay, lesbian, and/or trans couples in the following areas:
Pre-marital and pre-cohabitation counseling
Navigating identities, roles, family and expectations
Rekindling the spark
Sexual issues, compatibilities, past trauma
Repairing misunderstandings, tension and resentment
Improving communication and healing emotional volatility
Often couples who love each other deeply can find themselves at a point where they can no longer truly hear each other, reacting, getting defensive, avoidant, and/or tuning each other out, and therefore neither partner feels heard, understood, or appreciated. Misunderstandings, assumptions, and resentment build which erode intimacy.
I integrate several therapeutic approaches and techniques to help partners reconnect, communicate and be heard and appreciated by one another, as well as decrease emotional reactivity so you can experience the enjoyment of each other’s beloved qualities again. You may choose to attend together or to work on the presenting issues individually
**Online Psychotherapy is available for clients who are either in the State of California OR residing or traveling internationally in a country than the United States.
