I am a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist.  I chose this particular license because I believe Marriage and Family Therapists are best suited to help people understand what healthy relationships look like and how to develop healthy relationships.  I believe that our sense of ourselves and our growth and development takes place in the context of relationships.  We begin life in relationship to our caregivers, most often known as Mom and Dad.  It is through these early relationships we come to develop a sense of ourselves.  We also develop an outlook on the world and our own individual beliefs about how we can expect to be treated by others.  Sometimes these are positive experiences which generate a positive and satisfying belief system, a healthy sense of self, and healthy relationships. Other times we have been wounded in our relationships and these woundings sometimes get in the way of having a healthy sense of self, and healthy relationships.  Often people are confused about what healthy relationships look like and/or how to develop these relationships.  Most of us experience a mixture of both.  The most common results of inadequate or harmful relationships are depression and anxiety.

A positive predictor of psychological health is having good healthy relationships.  Just as we can experience wounding through relationships, we can also experience healing through relationships.  At first it may be through the therapeutic relationship.  While I do believe this is a very helpful step, my goal is to help people develop their own social networks with healthy relationships.  When good things happen to us we want to have others to share them with.  When life hands us difficulties, the burden doesn't seem quite as heavy when we have healthy relationships to ease our struggle.

Sometimes I work with couples and families to achieve healthy relationships.  Very often my work is with individuals.  Sometimes people come in understanding that relationship issues are at the core of their struggles.  Other times people come in because they are depressed, anxious or concerned about a family member and when we do the work around building the capacity to have healthy relationships, depression and anxiety ease.  For many people it is hard to know how to honor themselves and also participate in relationships.  A positive relationship with one's self is the building block for developing healthy relationships.

My training and experience includes working with all stages of the life cycle and I understand the struggles and goals common to each.  I received my M.A. in Counseling Psychology in 1996.  Starting in 1994 I worked in a variety of agencies varying from individual and group sessions in an agency setting to working in schools with a variety of ages and presenting problems, and even home visits with senior citizens and parents who were mandated to participate in therapy in order to maintain or regain custody of their children.  

In 2002 I opened my private practice and I remain exclusively in private practice in Poway.  I value continued learning and choose to study Relational Cultural Theory and other theories organized around the importance of relationships.  I keep up with the latest research by maintaining membership in several professional associations and by regularly participating in continuing education.  Additionally, I utilize mindfulness to be truly present in each session with my clients.  I choose to do this work because I believe passionately in helping people achieve happiness and because it brings me immense satisfaction to be a part of my clients' growth.