I'm a licensed clinical psychologist based in Sonoma County, California. My work spans clinical practice, forensic consulting, and educational programming—but the thread running through all of it is a focus on people navigating difficult transitions: injury, trauma, loss, and the hard work of rebuilding.
I came to psychology through biology. I hold a Master's degree in Biology from San Francisco State and a Bachelor's from UC Davis, and I spent several years doing immunological research in Uganda before shifting to clinical work. That scientific training still shapes how I think: I look for evidence, I'm skeptical of easy answers, and I try to be precise about what we actually know versus what we're inferring.
My doctoral training at the California School of Professional Psychology included rotations with forensic populations, refugees and asylum seekers, children facing serious medical illness, and adults with chronic mental illness. After completing my internship at Girard Medical Center in Philadelphia—working with dually-diagnosed adults on an extended acute inpatient unit—I returned to California for postdoctoral training in chronic pain and functional restoration.
For the past six years, I've worked extensively with injured workers in the California Workers' Compensation system, providing psychological services as part of interdisciplinary pain rehabilitation programs. I've adapted cognitive-behavioral and functional restoration approaches for Spanish-speaking populations and developed comprehensive curriculum for skills-building and vocational rehabilitation.
I also maintain a private psychotherapy practice serving adults dealing with trauma, chronic pain, grief, and major life transitions.
In 2015, I served as Emergency Mental Health and Psychosocial Manager for International Medical Corps in Liberia during the Ebola crisis. That work—providing psychological services amid mass grief, acute trauma, and community devastation—profoundly shaped my understanding of resilience and recovery. I'm first author on a peer-reviewed paper documenting community mental health recovery following the outbreak.
I provide direct clinical services in Spanish without interpreters.