About

I am a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and for the past 11 years I have had the privilege to work with children, adults and families from all walks of life. I am passionate about empowering my clients to choose happiness in their life.  This journey starts by first learning that, although we may not always have a choice in what life throws at us, we always have a choice in how we respond.  A persons mood and attitude is rarely an accurate indicator of whether or not they have experienced severe hardships in life or not.  Many happy people have experienced immense pain in their lives and many unhappy people have experienced relatively little pain.

I started my career as a Marriage and Family Therapist intern at Childnet Behavioral Health Services in Long Beach where I worked for 6 years, providing individual and family therapy for children and teenagers.  While at Childnet I worked with kids from 4 to 18 years old struggling with ADD/ADHD, behavior problems, anger issues, poor academic performance, depression and anxiety.  Many of the kids I worked with had experienced sexual and physical abuse, and were in or had been in the foster care system.

I started my private practice 15 years ago, in 2009, where I provide therapeutic services to couples, families, and individuals ages 4 and up.  I have many years of experience working with adults, teens, and children who have emotional, psychological, and behavioral challenges, ranging from depression, ADD/ADHD, impulse control disorders, anxiety disorders, oppositional defiance, sexual and physical abuse, and addiction/substance dependence and abuse.   I also have a depth of experience working with and helping couples, and families to improve their conflict resolution skills, communication skills, and parenting practices.

For the past 12 years, I have been working specifically in the field of addiction.  In 2012 I became clinical supervisor at The Bridge Teen Recovery program in Lakeforest California.  This is an after school Intensive Out Patient program that  helps adolescents struggling with alcohol and drug abuse and their families.  While at the Bridge I supervised the Marriage and Family Therapist interns, helped facilitate the groups, and provided individual and family therapy.

After I left The Bridge Teen Recovery program, in March of 2013, I started work at Sober Living By the Sea in Newport Beach as a clinical supervisor.  Sober Living By the Sea is a primary care drug and alcohol rehab facility for adult men and women. Since I started working at this facility I have provided individual, family, and group therapy for many of the clients. I also provide clinical supervision for the marriage and family therapist interns that work there.