It sounds like a cliché, but I really do love my job.

The reality is that my life has had it’s fair share of bumps and bruises. My career path has covered a lot of territory, including companies of all sizes in fields ranging from publishing to radio to IT, and I’d passed my 30th birthday before I knew “what I wanted to be when I grew up.”

So, how does an IT professional decide to enter the counseling field, anyway? Well, the combination of career dissatisfaction, relationship struggles, and depression led me to seek help. In doing that, I came to realize two things – first, that helping others has always given me a strong sense of personal fulfillment, and second, that some of the challenges and struggles I’ve faced put me in a position to both understand and empathize with the struggles faced by others. I can remember what’s it’s like to feel hopeless, lost and alone. I know how awful it feels to make poor choices – and to feel like you can’t stop making them. I’m grateful for the helping professionals who’ve helped me through my own difficult times, and I want to help others learn that it’s possible to be themselves and find happiness and success in the world.

In addition to my clinical education and training, my life experience & my previous professional work have influenced my beliefs about people, relationships and therapy as well as my treatment philosophy. You can also learn some more about me and my views on relationships, change, and psychotherapy by taking a look at my blog.

Before opening my therapy practice when I became licensed in 2006, I worked for several years at a small counseling agency outside Sacramento where I was a therapist, intake coordinator, and member of the management team. I have clinical experience helping adults, children, and adolescents with a wide range of problems; communication, trust, and intimacy problems in relationships, codependency, addiction recovery, anxiety, self-esteem, depression, anger & other concerns.

My education includes a Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology from the University of San Francisco and a Bachelor’s degree in American Studies from Brown University. I’ve received post-graduate training on a variety of clinical subjects and I continue to work on enhancing my clinical knowledge and skills through workshops, seminars, books, and other trainings on a regular basis.

I’ve lived in the Sacramento area since 1992, and when I’m not at work I can probably be found playing with my daughter at the park, riding along the river trail on my bike, playing guitar, taking pictures, or reading.