Education & Experience

I began my studies in psychology at Harvard University as a visiting student from the UK, and I continued my education in the US by earning a bachelor’s degree in political science with an emphasis in international relations from the University of California, Berkeley. My master’s degree is in Marriage and Family Therapy from the University of San Francisco, and my doctorate is in Clinical Psychology from the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in San Francisco. At CIIS, the curriculum is unique in that marries eastern philosophy and religion with traditional western empirical psychological training. I completed three pre-doctoral internships at the following institutions: Stanford’s Drug and Alcohol Clinic, Stanford’s Counseling and Psychological Services, and San Mateo County Mental Health Services; and I completed two post-doctoral internships, the first one for a national employee assistance program and the second at the University of Massachusetts Memorial Center Medical School. I worked at the UMass Memorial Health Care Behavioral Medicine Clinic with rotations throughout cardiology, oncology, pain clinic, and bariatric surgery. My experience includes serving on a mobile psychiatric crisis unit, full-service hospital emergency room, community mental health clinics and outreach, inpatient and general outpatient and two pain clinics. I specialize in recent trauma and medical illnesses including chronic pain and the full range of medical afflictions. ​ I am also trained in hypnosis and a variety of mind-body modalities and have a growing interest in the neurobiological basis of effective psychotherapies, and in particular, neuroplasticity