Types of clients treated:
- Adults
- Young Adults
- LGBTQIA+
- Couples
- Tweens
- Children 6+
Types of therapies or interventions used:
- Humanistic (person-centered, existential & Gestalt)
- Narrative
- Emotion-focused (individuals & couples)
- Gottman Method (couples)
- Internal Family Systems-informed
- Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
- Geek therapy
Types of mental health issues treated:
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Trauma (including complex trauma)
- Intimate partner violence / domestic violence
- Relational distress
- Sexuality & gender exploration
- Neuroqueer issues
- Grief & loss
- Self-harm & suicidal ideation
- Life transitions
Licenses/Certifications:
- Licensed Marriage & Family Therapist (LMFT), #144031
Education:
- M.S. Marital and Family Therapy, California State University – Dominguez Hills
- B.A. Psychology, California State University – Long Beach
Availability:
- Long Beach, CA
- Telehealth
Years of experience: 6
Why I became a Therapist:
I began playing video games from a young age and became close to folks from all over the world who had so many interesting stories to tell. Coming from a history of my own mental health challenges, the relationships I made online supported lifelong healing and fostered my curiosity for this thing called “life”. My time on online games, coupled with various traumas and other experiences along the way, drew my curious self into the therapy world, where I have strived to facilitate that relational safety for another person just as I’ve felt in the past.
Describe your therapeutic approach and what makes it unique?
I grew up immersed in different media - video games, TV shows, movies, art, and books - that had so many rich stories and narratives to tell. This immersion in narratives is the foundation of my therapeutic approach and is informed by narrative and postmodern therapeutic theories, which emphasize the subjectiveness of life and empower us to write the stories we want to have about ourselves. I focus on supporting my clients with crafting their life narrative, and all the character arcs inherent within that story. I also incorporate emotion-focused and parts-work ideas, in which I draw attention to the stories our emotions are telling, where they are in the body, and giving compassion for those parts.
My style in the therapy room is warm, inquisitive, and filled with genuineness. Sometimes, we may spend session time finding humor in a dark part of life, or we're making sense of the relationships that surround you, as these have their own story to tell. And just as I recognize how the different media I engaged in as a child impacted my personal story, I love to bring in my clients' different interests into the therapy room. Our love for media - be it video games, anime, creative arts, etc. - can sometimes be the vehicle for us to better understand, and therefore rewrite, the stories we want to have for ourselves. A working therapy session looks like one in which we're taking a part of your story - something from the last week, something in the past or future - and making meaning of it, ultimately using it as a building block for the greater narrative of your life.
