I'm a licensed psychologist and marriage & family therapist and have been in practice in Sonoma and Marin counties for over 20 years. My work involves helping people become more self-aware and more able to tolerate and manage strong feelings, resolve painful conflicts, strengthen relationships, manage life transitions, grieve losses - and, ultimately, to become more able to experience meaning and fulfillment in life.
I work with children, adolescents, and adults, providing individual, couples, and family therapy, play therapy, and parenting consultation. I offer careful listening and collaborative engagement in the service of working toward your goals.
People seek psychotherapy for many reasons. Some want help with specific problems such as depression, anxiety, relationship conflict, or concern about a child. Others feel stuck in problematic patterns that cause emotional distress, interfere with their ability to connect with others, or leave them feeling unfulfilled, in some way dissatisfied.
My effort is to address immediate concerns and, ultimately, help you experience life as deeply and fully as possible. My approach is influenced by a number of schools of thought: humanistic, psychoanalytic, Jungian, cognitive-behavioral, family systems, Buddhist psychology/mindfulness, the Japanese Morita and Naikan therapies, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, Acceptance & Commitment Therapy (ACT), somatic awareness, and dream work. I work in a longer-term mode suitable for self exploration and personal growth as well as for addressing deeply rooted problems, and also in a shorter-term mode suitable for time-limited problem solving.
I received a master's degree in psychology from Antioch University and a doctorate in psychology from the Wright Institute in Berkeley, California. I'm a member of the California Psychological Association and its Sonoma and Marin County chapters, the California Association of Marriage & Family Therapists, the Northern California Society for Psychoanalytic Psychology, the Association for Contextual Behavioral Science: Acceptance & Commitment Therapy {ACT} & Relational Frame Theory {RFT}, the ToDo Institute: Japanese Morita & Naikan Therapies, the International Association of Applied Psychology, the International Society for the Psychological & Social Approaches to Psychosis, the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, and the Psychotherapy Action Network.
ServicesAdult and Adolescent Diagnostic Assessment
Adult and Adolescent Psychotherapy
Adult and Adolescent Sand Tray Therapy
Couples Therapy
Family Therapy
Child Diagnostic Assessment
Child Play Therapy
Sand Play Therapy
Parent Consultation
Professional Consultation
Areas of ExpertiseAdjustment Problems
Anxiety
Behavior Problems
Childhood Problems: Attachment, Adjustment, Attention, Behavior, Development,
Learning, Mood
Children Who are Gifted: Special Issues
Depression
Elder Issues
End of Life Issues
Family Problems
Gay-Lesbian-Bisexual-Transgender Issues
Health-Related Issues
Infant-Parent Problems
Parenting Issues
Problematic Personality Styles
Phase of Life Problems
Relationship Issues
Sexual Dysfunction
Sleep Disorders
Trauma-Related Disorders