An area of focus in my practice is working with parents, couples and families in times of adjustment and transition, particularly in the early years of parenthood. Parenthood can be very demanding especially when you're trying to maintain a career and relationships with your partner, family and friends. I work with clients to give them communication tools and self-care strategies as well as increasing self-awareness and personal insight.

I understand you want to change something; possibly many things in your relationships, in yourself, and in your work and that you are both fearful and hopeful about coming to therapy. I will help you to resolve underlying conflicts, relieve symptoms, and discover what feels meaningful and enjoyable. My personal style reflects who I am in warmth, compassion, knowledge, and authenticity. I work with individuals, couples, and families, using an interactive approach that focuses on long-term psychotherapy as well as short-term strategic problem solving. Through this unique process you will achieve your goals and live the life you desire and deserve.

I exclusively provide video/online sessions for couples and individuals who want to learn and practice skills to enhance their relationships and communicate better. I use proven, research-based techniques to help you get better results in the context of all your relationships. I listen to you, but also, I am very interactive and provide feedback.

I am a family therapist and my approach to psychotherapy has been shaped by over thirty years of work with addictions. Helping clients into Recovery has led to a special understanding of the complexities of relationships and the processes of change for individuals, couples, and families. I have spent most of those years seeing couples and families in San Francisco's wonderfully diverse cultural landscape. I am no stranger to the complexities of gender, class and ethnicity as they influence the work of family or individual therapy.

*PRACTICE UPDATE* I will be closing my practice in San Francisco in June of 2020 and relocating to the East Bay. I plan to welcome new clients to my East Bay practice beginning in Fall 2020.

I imagine what brought you here was a deep knowing inside that something in your life isn't right. Perhaps you feel depressed or a lack of meaning and purpose, but don't know what to do to make yourself feel better. I believe that building a meaningful relationship in therapy has the power to heal and transform us from the inside out. I want to support you in resolving your issues quickly and clearly. I offer VIRTUAL sessions via Zoom, telephone and other platforms for clients who are currently needing at distance support.

It is easy to feel stuck, confused, or overwhelmed, when dealing with the many challenges that life throws at you. Often there is not a quick and easy solution when dealing with life's more complex challenges, however having a supportive ally throughout the twists and turns can make all the difference. I am committed to supporting people who have experienced oppression, trauma, or other difficult experiences. Figuring out how to live one's life with a sense of meaning, satisfaction, and authenticity can be difficult, and I am here to support you on that journey.

I aim to create a space where you feel recognized, understood, and safe enough to explore whatever pain or experience you need help with. My style is warm, collaborative, and compassionate. I use an individualized approach and tailor my interventions to your unique and specific needs. I combine down to earth, practical support with a depth-oriented approach focused on symptom relief and shifting long-standing patterns that have gotten in the way. I also focus on creating a strong therapeutic relationship in which each person I work with feels cared for and understood.

In these times of drastic global change, it is completely natural to feel anxious, fearful, overwhelmed, sad, and stressed. What's most important now is that you feel supported during this time not only by your self care practice, but also by your support team. I would like to be on that support team for you. In my practice, I specialize in working with individuals or couples who are feeling anxious or depressed, individuals dealing with stress and burnout, new and expectant parents, those who are dealing with loss, issues with self worth, and people from dysfunctional family systems.

As your therapist, using mindfulness and a caring presence, I will accompany you on the road to personal growth, supporting you in understanding how you can become appreciative of your behaviors: they helped you come this far! We will explore how you can see your life through different, enriching perspectives to include multiple ways of being in relationship and acting in the world in a more satisfying way for you. It's about empowering you with the ability to choose what you want to live. It is about giving you choices.

Wanting change is hard. When I started my own work, It seemed like some kind of dream that things could be even a little different. Somatic Therapy was the magic that brought me through complex trauma and back to myself, to my emotions and to the possibility for connection and joy. When I work with you, I bring my training but I also bring my whole self. I am warm, compassionate, and above all present. Coming to therapy is a radical act of bravery and trust. I have the utmost respect for this act and will meet you with both my big heart and protective spirit.

Are you so overwhelmed that you can't focus on your partner, kids, or other meaningful relationships? Do you feel like letting go of patterns is challenging and find yourself obsessing about your body to the point that eating becomes an ordeal? Do you feel like the past is weighing you down and you can't put it where it belongs, that is in the past? Do you engage in behaviors such as drug, alcohol, or other reckless endeavors that bring about tension and conflicts at home, at work, or other social settings?

The key to emotional health and happiness is nurturing the authentic self, the source of one's primary needs and feelings. When we neglect this essential task, our ability to love and work is compromised. Depression, anxiety, and compulsive behaviors are often signs of alienation from the self. In my work, I integrate psychodynamic therapy, mindfulness, and experiential techniques to help each client's real self emerge and develop. In this way, therapy can serve as a catalyst for personal transformation. It can help you overcome adversity and create a productive, satisfying life, in alignment with your deepest values.

With compassionate guidance and therapeutic support, I have over the last 25 years helped tech employees, students, CEO's, parents, artists and many other individuals navigate personal challenges or life transitions. I use a blend of therapeutic approaches tailored to your specific needs to address a wide range of personal issues such as depression, anxiety, fear, past and present trauma, relationship issues, loss, cancer, family and personal illnesses. My style is collaborative so you can be an active participant in your healing and can better understand and resolve the challenges in your life.

You're feeling generally dissatisfied, like you drew the short straw. You make it look not too bad on the outside, yet feel unfulfilled in relationships with lover, family, friends, coworkers. You have concerns about overdoing something (drinking, working, internet), or a generalized anxiety, perfectionism, or people-pleasing. I am a highly interactive therapist. I know when to bring in humor--and when to go to the dark places with you. Together we will look at how you got here. Through identifying your beliefs, attitudes and needs around relationships and intimacy, we will find the key to unlocking your wellbeing.

I'm curious about people: how our unique histories have shaped us, how we relate to each other & what motivates our behavior in relationships. I specialize in processing relationships with couples & individuals struggling with codependency, communication, anxiety, depression, trauma, self-esteem & identity. We often get stuck in repetitive behavioral/thinking patterns that block us from living the lives we yearn for. We may feel misunderstood or disconnected in our relationships. We may avoid intimacy because we don’t want to get hurt again. We may have a harsh inner critic & lack self-love. Do you experience this in your life?

I am empathic and warm yet direct and challenging in our collaborative relationship. I provide a safe harbor from which to work and together we will identify ways in which your past is preventing you from living the life you want. Some of my hopes are that your tendency to be self-critical will soften and that you will become compassionate towards yourself; that you will gain positive coping skills to deal with stress and anxiety and to decrease perfectionistic tendencies and that you accomplish the goals that you have set for yourself. I will be your guide in this process.

Therapy can help you remove unwanted behaviors and restore joy and fulfillment to your life. Do you struggle with anxiety, depression, low self-esteem, relationship issues or impact from trauma? I provide a non-judgmental, active, caring environment to enable you to make positive changes. COUPLES: Do you feel stuck in the "crazy cycle"? Communication issues are often at the core of relationships. Therapy can help you master the art of communication. My therapeutic approach is supported by the most recent research and discoveries from experts in the psychology field. I have witnessed many couples flourish and transform.

I am not currently accepting new clients. However, if we have worked together before, or you’d like to be added to a waitlist, or if you’d like help in finding a QPOC provider, please contact me. I offer virtual therapy to couples and individuals seeking peace and purpose in their lives and relationships. I believe in everyone's capacity and right to feel well and whole. I strive to build effective, honest, and loving communication strategies so that couples can restore their sense of navigating life together as a powerful alliance.

I'm an online psychotherapist with over 20 years of clinical experience. Born in Hawaii, raised in the Bay Area, trained and educated in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco, I now live Oahu and hold a Hawai'i and California license. My therapeutic style is pragmatic. I do this by using solution and goal-focused integrative therapies. I help people and couples explore their issues, challenges, and options in a positive way They move past these challenges to discover and get what they want. Together, my clients learn about their troublesome "holding patterns" and I assist them in charting and moving towards a new direction.