ABOUT ME

I am originally from Chicago, IL, and lived in Southern California for an extended period. I have a love of movement — and studied Dance, Choreography, Psychology, Sociology, and Karate, Fencing, Swimming, and Weight-training at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) — and earned a B.F.A in Dance. After working as a dancer and dance educator, I returned to school to study Dance Movement Therapy with Professor Dosamantes-Beaudry and Victoria Marks, earning an MA in Dance Movement Therapy from the University of California, Los Angeles.

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I worked as a Dance Movement Therapist in various hospitals in Los Angeles, CA. I lead a variety of movement, somatic, and creative arts therapy sessions for adults and older adults in acute, locked psychiatric inpatient units and in partial psychiatric hospitalization programs at Century City Hospital, Encino Hospital, North Hollywood Medical Center, and Huntington East Valley Hospital in Pasadena, CA.

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I also have experience leading dance movement therapy groups and working individually with children and adolescents with developmental disabilities, such as autism spectrum disorder, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, and epilepsy, at the Lawrence L. Frank Center in Pasadena.

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I also experienced first hand the impact of cutbacks to mental health services and care by federal, state and counties, as well as closures of mental health units due to lack of funding, rising costs, and insurance companies' policies.   

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It was during that time that I returned to college at Pacifica Graduate Institute in Santa Barbara to study depth psychology, radical theorizing about mental health services and treatment, and engagement in social justice issues as they pertain to healing and care. The program prepared psychologists to integrate diverse depth-psychological traditions, human-sciences scholarship, and community engagement. 

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During graduate school, I continued to work as a dance movement therapist and psychological intern with Dr. Elenore Pomeroy at the Healing Foundation, a psychoanalytic day treatment program in Brentwood, CA, supporting and advocating for adults working through trauma, PTSD, dissociative personality disorders, and autism spectrum issues. I also worked and led dance movement therapy groups in a variety of Catholic Sisters' retirement homes. I worked with the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Carondelet in Brentwood, the Poor Sisters of Nazareth in Culver City, and the Sisters of Religious of the Sacred Heart in Montebello, CA. I was inherently interested in the diverse community of Sisters and how they coped with aging, modernity, and their spiritual practices and life of service, and how they navigated within a Catholic, male-led hierarchical system and the larger patriarchal culture.  ​​

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After receiving my Ph.D. in clinical psychology, I was invited to teach in the Dance and Education Psychology Department at California State University, Long Beach. I taught and developed a curriculum on Nonverbal Communication and Mind-Body Interaction. I specialized in Non-verbal Communication, Mind-Body awareness and health, and somatic approaches to self-understanding and healing.

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​Also, I was accepted to work as a psychological assistant with Dr. Steven Frank at the CG—Jung Institute of Los Angeles, Kieffer Franz Clinic.

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I took some time off from working full-time to start a family and relocated to Portland, Oregon.

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While working toward becoming licensed to practice as a psychotherapist in OR, I taught at a variety of colleges and universities in the Pacific Northwest. I taught Biological Psychology, Psychology as a Natural Science, Psychology of Personal and Social Adjustment, and Clinical Psychology. I have a love of learning, and I have found that teaching enhances my work as a therapist.  

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I currently devote my time and energy to my private practice in Lake Oswego, a suburb of Portland, OR. I work with adults and couples who seek to enhance their relationships through couples therapy and estrangement counseling, as well as with individual adult clients to improve their overall mental health and well-being.