When I use Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), I guide people towards developing psychological flexibility. ACT empowers clients to embrace their thoughts and feelings without judgment, fostering a deeper understanding of their inner experiences. Through mindfulness practices, we cultivate present-moment awareness, enabling clients to navigate their internal world with greater ease.

In our sessions, we explore the principles of acceptance and make space for uncomfortable emotions rather than avoiding or suppressing them. By letting go of the struggle to control your internal experiences, you can redirect your focus towards taking meaningful action in alignment with your values.

A central focus of ACT is commitment to values-based action. Together, we identify and clarify personal values, empowering you to set meaningful goals and take deliberate steps towards living a life that reflects your core values. Even amidst challenging thoughts or emotions, you learn to prioritize actions that honor your deepest values and aspirations.

When I incorporate Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) into our work, I use it as a set of tools to help identify and shift patterns of thinking that may be contributing to emotional distress, self-criticism, or feeling stuck. CBT interventions can be especially helpful in addressing excessive rumination, all-or-nothing thinking, and the kinds of thought loops that tend to amplify anxiety, depression, and self-doubt.

Together, we might explore how certain thoughts influence your emotional experience and behavior, and practice ways to challenge or reframe unhelpful patterns. These strategies can offer clarity and relief, especially when you're feeling overwhelmed or caught in mental spirals.

Rather than using CBT as a standalone model, I integrate these techniques into our broader therapeutic work and draw from them when they support insight, emotional regulation, or practical coping. Whether we’re working on managing self-critical thoughts, building emotional resilience, or navigating day-to-day challenges, CBT can serve as a helpful anchor for making meaningful and manageable changes.

As a white therapist, it’s important that I don’t perpetuate the historical harms of colonialism in my sessions. I recognize that every individual carries with them a unique cultural background and lived experiences that shape their worldview and understanding of themselves. It is especially important that I don’t place the onus on people of color to educate me about the realities of generational and modern-day racism.

I strive to create a safe and inclusive space where POC clients feel respected, understood, believed, and valued for who they are. This involves actively listening to your stories, acknowledging the impact of systemic oppression and privilege, and validating your lived experiences. I understand that my own cultural background and subject positioning may influence my perceptions and interactions, and I remain vigilant in examining any biases or assumptions that may arise.

In my practice, I integrate culturally sensitive approaches that honor the diversity of my clients' identities and experiences. This may involve incorporating Intersectionality-Informed Therapy, which recognizes that how individuals hold multiple social identities (e.g., race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status) that intersect and influence your experiences. I use this approach to consider how these intersecting identities, and responding social pressures, shape your perspectives and ability to act in creating positive change in your own life.

I am committed to ongoing education and self-reflection to deepen my understanding of cultural, racial, and ethnic diversity and its implications for your mental health.

I use Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) to support people who feel overwhelmed by intense emotions, struggle in their relationships, or engage in behaviors that feel hard to control.

The "dialectical" part of the name refers to the idea of integrating opposites; by accepting things as they are while also striving for change. The therapy is structured around four main skills modules:

1. Mindfulness: This involves learning to be fully present and aware of the current moment, without judgment. It helps individuals observe their thoughts and feelings without reacting impulsively.

2. Distress Tolerance: This teaches skills to tolerate pain and discomfort in difficult situations, without making things worse through destructive behaviors (such as self-harm or substance use).

3. Emotional Regulation: This focuses on identifying, understanding, and managing intense emotions in healthier ways, so that individuals can respond to emotions rather than being controlled by them.

4. Interpersonal Effectiveness: This module helps individuals develop healthier relationships by learning to assert their needs, set boundaries, and manage conflicts without aggression or passivity.

DBT tools can be profoundly helpful for anyone navigating emotional intensity, trauma, anxiety, depression, substance use, or relational challenges. I tailor DBT skills to meet your needs and integrate them thoughtfully into our work, not applying them as a one-size-fits-all model.

I offer existential therapy as a space to explore the deeper questions and tensions that come with being human. My approach is rooted in existential philosophy and shaped by a humanistic, relational stance. Rather than focusing solely on symptom reduction, I aim to help you make sense of your experience. This can be especially meaningful during times of uncertainty, loss, or when you are grappling with questions that do not have easy answers.

In our work, I invite you to reflect on your values, beliefs, choices, and responsibilities. Therapy becomes a collaborative process of dialogue and inquiry. Together, we examine what it means to live with authenticity and intention, even in the face of freedom, isolation, mortality, or the search for meaning.

I often work with people who feel disoriented by major life transitions, those experiencing existential dread or a loss of purpose, and those seeking clarity about their identity and how they want to live.

If you are wrestling with difficult questions or longing for a deeper connection to your own meaning and direction, existential therapy may offer a space where reflection can lead to greater alignment and intention.

Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) helps couples understand and respond to each other in more connected and supportive ways. In this approach, we focus on the emotions that sit underneath conflict, distance, or disconnection, and we work to create new patterns of closeness and trust.

Our emotions often reflect deeper needs for safety, love, and connection. When those needs feel unmet, it can lead to painful cycles where partners feel misunderstood, reactive, or alone. I support couples in slowing down these patterns and tuning into what is really happening beneath the surface.

In our work together, we identify the negative interaction cycles that may be keeping you stuck. We explore the feelings and attachment needs that drive those patterns, and I help each partner express themselves more openly and clearly. The goal is not to win a fight but to feel seen and emotionally safe with one another.

As emotional safety grows, many couples begin to experience more comfort, closeness, and understanding. EFT can help rebuild trust, increase emotional responsiveness, and strengthen the bond between partners.

I approach this work with empathy, structure, and care, offering a space where both partners feel heard. Together, we work toward a relationship that feels more secure, connected, and supportive.

I am a nonbinary transgender therapist who has been on and off testosterone since 2009 and I had top surgery in 2012. I know first-hand what it’s like to struggle to find an affirming therapist, as well as how important it is to have a clinician that truly supports your authentic identity. I am also a member of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) and I strongly believe in adhering to WPATH Standards of Care, version 8 (SOC8), when working with transgender, questioning, and gender diverse individuals. These guidelines provide a framework for ethical and affirming care that prioritizes the well-being and autonomy of transgender and gender diverse people.

I am also a clinical member of Mind the Gap, which is a mental health consortium of San Francisco Bay Area psychologists, psychotherapists, psychiatrists, social workers, and other allied professionals who provide gender-affirmative services to gender expansive, gender creative, and transgender children, youth, and their families. All members have signed a membership agreement form in which they agree to adhere to Mind the Gap’s Mission Statement and the Gender Affirmative Model.

As your therapist, I emphasize a you-centered approach when it comes to exploring your gender and being a gendered (or non-gendered) person in your life. I can help you navigate the complexities of your gender transition with sensitivity to your pains, respect for your reality, and expertise as a clinician who works with many other transgender, questioning, and gender diverse people.

I will do my best to empower you to make autonomous decisions about their gender-affirming care. As such, I am able to support you as you explore your gender identity, perhaps talk about how hormones impact your body, and process what it means to live in a transphobic society with your new identity.

Many gender questioning clients come to me with concerns that they are not “authentically” transgender or not trans “enough.” I don’t see myself as an authoritarian gate keeper to a singular, approved trans experience. Instead, what I may try to explore with you is what being trans means to you, as well as how to reduce any troubling or ongoing sensations of gender dysphoria. Lastly, I also have a multidisciplinary approach to care when it comes to gender, and I invite collaboration between myself and medical providers. This means that I try to ensure that my clients receive comprehensive support outside of talk therapy sessions that addresses their unique medical needs and goals. The most common example of this in my practice is writing letters to advocate for you to get your surgery covered by insurance.

Humanistic therapy centers on your lived experience and your natural capacity for growth, healing, and self-understanding. This approach is grounded in the belief that people thrive when they feel heard, respected, and accepted without judgment.

In our work together, I strive to create a space where you feel safe to be fully yourself. I bring empathy, authenticity, and deep respect to our conversations, listening closely to your perspective rather than offering interpretations or assumptions. You are encouraged to express yourself honestly and openly, knowing that our relationship is built on trust, presence, and unconditional positive regard.

A core idea in humanistic therapy is that each person has an inner drive toward living more fully and authentically. I see therapy as a collaborative space where you can explore what that means for you.

This work often involves developing greater self-awareness, taking responsibility for your choices, and making room for your full emotional range. You are invited to take an active role in your healing, exploring what matters most and moving toward a life that feels more aligned with your sense of self.

I use Internal Family Systems (IFS) to help you come to terms with the different and sometimes conflicting parts of yourself. Maybe one part of you wants connection, while another tells you that you are too much or not enough. IFS gives us a way to slow down and listen to each part without judgment.

In our work together, I help you get to know the inner voices that show up in your thoughts and emotions. Some parts may try to protect you through self-criticism or avoidance. Others may carry hurt from the past or feel stuck in old roles. Even when they seem harsh or confusing, I believe every part is trying to help in its own way.

Through gentle curiosity, we build a relationship with each part and learn what it needs. I help you access your own inner wisdom so that you can meet these parts with compassion rather than fear or frustration.

IFS can be especially helpful if you often feel torn inside, if your reactions feel out of proportion, or if you notice yourself repeating patterns that do not serve you. As we make space for each part of your experience, you may begin to feel more grounded, more whole, and more in touch with who you really are.

I believe that understanding the deeper layers of your inner world can create meaningful change in the present. In our psychodynamic work together, we will explore how past experiences, unconscious patterns, and early relationships may be shaping your current thoughts, emotions, and ways of relating.

Our sessions offer a safe and reflective space where you can begin to notice the emotional undercurrents that often operate just outside of awareness. Together, we will look at patterns that may feel stuck or confusing and begin to understand the roots beneath them.

The therapeutic relationship itself is an important part of this work. I show up with empathy, curiosity, and honesty, inviting you to explore your experience as it unfolds in real time. Our connection can become a mirror that helps reveal how you relate to yourself and others, offering opportunities for both insight and healing.

In this approach, we often explore the impact of early attachment, formative relationships, and unconscious defenses. As insight deepens, you may begin to feel more emotionally free, more self-aware, and more connected to your internal experience.

Psychodynamic therapy is not about quick fixes. It is a process of looking inward with compassion and depth. By understanding the roots of your pain, you can begin to loosen the grip of old patterns and move toward a life that feels more coherent and self-directed.