Therapeutic Approach
Licensed as an MFT in California since 1982, and certified as both an EMDR and a TIST therapist, I work to help people heal from the painful aftermath of PTSD and chronic trauma—the symptoms and triggering; the damage to safety, trust, closeness and belonging—so they can feel better in their current life and build hope for the future.
My approach combines understanding the neurobiology of how trauma impacts the body/brain/feelings, with therapeutic techniques like TIST, mindfulness, IFS Parts work and EMDR. Treatment is focused on helping people stabilize in the present, integrate past trauma affecting them now, and rebuild strength, compassion and self-esteem.
I have been profoundly inspired by the determination and courage of all my diverse clients and the resilience of the human spirit they embody.
Therapy Session Information
Cost per Session: $185- $220
Sliding Scale: Yes
Pay By: Online payment or check
Insurance: Not accepted but a superbill can be provided upon request
Session Location: Conducted exclusively through Telehealth and clients must reside in California
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Therapy Practice and Populations
Individual Therapy: I work primarily with individual adults and with couples as adjunct to the work with individuals.
Client Populations: My practice consists of clients from diverse ethnic and racial backgrounds, sexual orientations, gender identities, and ages.
Therapeutic Stages of Treatment
Each person’s needs and treatment are unique, and therapy is an ongoing conversation and collaboration. What follows is a general idea of the stages of therapy—even for the people I work with who do not have a trauma history or symptoms.
1. Stabilization of the current situations, symptoms, triggers that are impacting present day life.
This process includes an in-depth assessment of the person’s issues and can also involve building/developing inner and outer resources and learning how to manage triggers and interrupt them. Sometimes EMDR can help regarding the resources, although there are many directions to take in this area. The goal is to build strength and solidity in daily life and to improve symptoms. Obviously, if someone is in a dangerous situation, that is the first priority before anything else can happen. The length of this part of therapy is dependent on the individual and life circumstances.
2. After the situations and symptoms are more stable, the work is about a thorough assessment of what is causing the symptoms, and then working to process the roots and core of the issues. This is a point in therapy where TIST, Parts work, and EMDR can be a great tools.
3. Rebuilding the self, integrating what has been learned and moving on. Reorienting life, beliefs and actions based on a more empowered and centered sense of self is a goal that most people want to reach and which we can also work on together.
Therapeutic Work Settings
I have worked in many settings over the years treating abuse and trauma survivors including: welfare and protective social service organizations, community mental health clinics, and nonprofit agencies. I also created and implemented multi-agency treatment programs for abuse intervention and recovery, and taught workshops on recovering and healing from trauma.
Private Practice
Being in private practice gave me a vast education about the road to recovery and exposed me to a diverse group of people determined to heal from rape, domestic violence, sexual assault, single incident PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder), and complex trauma and abuse/neglect in childhood. I learned in depth about symptoms that can accompany trauma: substance abuse, codependency and ACA (Adult Children of Alcoholics/Addicts); the impact of poverty and community violence; depression and anxiety; and dissociative disorders. The clients I have worked with vary in age, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, and economic background. In addition to individual therapy, I have experience working with couples, groups and families.
Experience with War Survivors
A year after the ceasefire in Bosnia, I was invited to go there to work with women and children war survivors. I spent a month in a newly recovering war zone and then returned again four years later to visit the families we had befriended. This powerful life experience exposed me to the aftermath of the worst of violence — war, as well as the reality of what connects us all as humans.
Artist, Writer, Poet, Film Producer
In addition to being a therapist, I am also a visual artist, writer and poet. Since the start of the war in Iraq, I worked on a feature length documentary film about the personal experience of war, as seen through the eyes of four generations of American combatants (WWII through Afghanistan). Interviewing scores of veterans, who were willing to share what they had lived through, also enlarged my world view and taught me lessons only they could offer.
Appreciation
My extensive work with trauma survivors along with lifelong experience as a creative person, has given me a profound appreciation of both the power of life to harm as well as the human capacity to heal and create—even from the most extreme traumatic experiences.
“You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.” ~Maya Angelou