About Me

Working in Partnership with Clients to Heal and Progress

Since I was 12, I wanted to be a Therapist. In college though, I began working in research in Circadian Rhythms with a professor and then engaged in the Honors program at UCI and graduated with Honors in 1991 (with minor in French). I earned my M. A. (1993) and was ABD for my Ph.D (1997) at Claremont Graduate University. I enjoyed doing research and teaching, but then had a child with Autism and needed to be with him. I homeschooled my children while working as an educational consultant and on the gifted advisory committee at Seattle Public Schools. I then earned a M. Ed. Policy from the University of Washington in 2013. I worked in the administration for Seattle Public Schools, but was encouraged to be a School Psychologist and so I began study of that at Eastern Washington's online program. Though I completed my coursework, the career wasn't a good fit for me and when the Pandemic hit, I was working as a Covid Tracer, but then moved back to be a Substance Use Disorder Counselor in Washington State. I changed to a new agency in 2023 and began working as a Therapist in Mental Health as well. I moved to Oregon in 2024 to work in a day treatment program for youth, but then moved to private practice here in Salem, Oregon. Though it may seem as I moved around to different things, I see my path as more straightforward as I moved from educating students about psychology to educating people about special education and gifted education and different schools to educating teachers and students and parents about student challenges and solutions, to helping educate substance use disorder clients and mental health clients on how to better their lives and heal. Throughout the journey there has been a thread of neuropsychology and somatic work because trauma "lives in the body." I also began to specialize in LGBTQIA+ issues and gender affirming care due to having several Trans, Nonbinary, and Queer people in my family as I saw with friends of my family members who also identified on that spectrum  that often their families did not just accept and love them as they are. I have grown personally in my ability to support and want to help others adjust as well as providing gender-affirming care.  I was diagnosed with ADHD during the pandemic and have developed a passion for support for clients with this as well (and Autism or AudDHD) and earned certifications in Play Therapy, Trauma, and ADHD and am working on completing my EMDR certification, but have many others to do as well (and am close on my DBT). I never stop learning and am always trying to provide resources and support for my clients.