Education & Experience

In 1998, I graduated with an MA in Art Therapy and Marriage and Family therapy from the College of Notre Dame. I became a licensed psychotherapist in 2001, a certified yoga teacher in 2005, and a yoga therapist in 2008. I have been working as a psychotherapist for the past 24 years in private practice, group homes, juvenile halls, chemical dependency programs, crisis response programs, and in private practice. Academically, I was on the faculty of Sofia University (formerly the Institute for Transpersonal Psychology), and the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) where I taught Trauma classes to graduate students, as well as other courses. I was also proud to be on the faculty of the Niroga Institute (www.niroga.org) Yoga Teacher and Therapy Training Programs. I have spent a few years teaching yoga to at-risk youth and people healing from illness and recovering from addiction, as well as training others to work with these specialized populations. In addition, I have enjoyed being a Clinical Supervisor of interns and trainees going through the licensure process. My other formal studies include: training in Bioenergetics (founded by Alexander Lowen), Restorative Teacher Training with Judith Lasater, Integrative Restoration (I-Rest) Training with Richard Miller, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy (body and mindfulness oriented therapy) training in the treatment of Trauma. I am also trained in EMDR, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT,) Mindfulness Based-Stress Reduction (MBSR), Prolonged Exposure (PE) for the treatment of trauma, Non-Violent Communication (NVC), Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Self-Compassion Practices. Currently, I am getting trained to specialize in working with people who identify as HSP "Highly Sensitive People" and look forward to supporting more HSP clients. I also specialize in working with trauma.