My Philosophy
As a licensed clinical social worker, I focus on utilizing scientifically-based therapeutic techniques in a compassionate, understanding and flexible way. I use an active, collaborative approach, integrating attachment, humanistic, EMDR, cognitive-behavioral, and mindfulness models. I aim to provide supportive and practical feedback, while helping clients process trauma and address personal life challenges and relationship difficulties.
As your therapist, we will work together to uncover the root causes of your distress, give you practical tools to help you handle triggers, re-direct damaging patterns, and work through the challenges you face. As we identify your individual needs, I will work with you to bring about a deeper understanding into yourself, build on your strengths and attain the personal growth you are committed to accomplishing.
Licensure:
Licensed Clinical Social Worker #25329 - August 2009
Education:
Masters of Social Worker from University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA - Graduated 2005 with Honor
Bachelors in Psychology from Occidental College, Los Angeles, CA - Graduated 2001
Training:
EMDR - Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Trauma Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction
Brief Strategic Family Therapy
Structured Family Analysis Evaluation
NOW ACCEPTING MEDICARE PLAN B
“Trauma creates change you don’t choose. Healing is about creating change you do choose.”
EMDR – Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing
EMDR is a trauma-focused therapy, which asserts that traumatic experiences can get stuck in your brain. EMDR works by releasing these trapped emotional experiences (traumas) by allowing the brain to reprocess the memories and store them with resolved feelings and in an adaptive place. A trauma can be any experience in a person’s life that the person considers disturbing. The traumatic experience is like a shock to the person’s system. This shock results in the brain freezing up and locking the traumatic experience inside one’s brain. These memories are often stored with strong emotions and/or sensations that are not linked with words and thus very hard, if not impossible, to process through traditional talk therapy. As additional experiences occur that are disturbing to a person, they are linked resulting in multiple unresolved traumas. As more and more memories are linked together, it becomes like a ball of twine all tangled together. These memories that become stuck can result in symptoms, which are problems in everyday functioning (i.e. anxiety, panic, depression, relationships issues, etc.).
Through EMDR we are able to allow one’s body to understand that it’s no longer in immediate danger and allow one’s brain to finally process that traumatic experience. After processing the memory, when the event is brought to mind, the emotions, sounds, smells, and images that are associated with this experience are no longer experienced in an overwhelming manner. The memory will remain there, but without the overwhelming feelings, thoughts, and body sensations linked with it. EMDR allows for the trauma to be processed or digested, for the brain to make sense of the disturbing material, and for the brain to then store the trauma as adaptive memories.
“Wisdom is a form of knowledge delivered with compassion and shaped in a manner that helps the seeker to heal and grow. ”
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Have you ever become overwhelmed by your thoughts - the unrelenting why questions from things in your past or the constant fears over the future? Experienced these same thoughts playing over and over again in your mind? What we think and how we interpret life’s events impacts how we feel and act. During cognitive behavioral therapy we will identify these thoughts that are triggered by emotional situations. As we identify and explore these automatic thoughts and feelings we can help you to become more aware of them and begin to accept them for what they are, just thoughts. As events occur in your life, together we can help you to better manage your emotional reaction to these events. Our goal will be for you to become so good at identifying and addressing your thoughts and feelings that you choose how you want to live and experience your life.
“Few of us ever live in the present. We are forever anticipating what is to come or remembering what has gone.”
Mindfulness
Are you overwhelmed by making huge life decisions? Has the stress over an uncertain future become too much? Do you feel your life and your future have been taken out of your control? Do you feel like days keep passing by and you have no idea how to regain focus and purpose? Mindfulness allows you to become fully attuned to what is happening in the present moment. It is completely normal for our minds to slip away from us in an instant, to become lost in a memory, distracted by worries of the future, or engrossed by the pain we are suffering from. Mindfulness is a meditation practice, however, not one where you try to clear your mind. The practice helps you to focus on the here and now, to be in the present moment. So often, we try and run from our past or hide from our future. Practicing mindfulness allows us to gain acceptance for what we are currently experiencing with compassion and kindness. Mindfulness allows you to stop, breath and give yourself the time and space you deserve. It allows us to develop an awareness of our impulses, thoughts and behaviors. With this awareness we can begin to see that thoughts are just thoughts and they do not have to dictate our behaviors. The goal is not to eliminate the thoughts but to accept that they are there and instead of reject our suffering to heal and transform from it, Being able to live in the moment allows us to find peace in our lives and respond openly to the stressors and difficult life events that impact us all.
