Accepting new clients! Individuals, couples, children, and teens in Santa Maria, Orcutt, and Central Coast communities may be seeking compassionate, professional mental health counseling. Our ideal clients may be experiencing anxiety, depression, relationship difficulties, family conflict, stress, grief, or major life transitions. We offer a supportive, confidential, and nonjudgmental environment where you can feel heard, build emotional resilience, and create meaningful change. We accept CenCal Behavioral Health Insurance and out-of-pocket payment. I provide a client-centered approach to therapy focused on understanding each person's unique needs, identifying personal strengths, and developing practical strategies for lasting improvement. Through a supportive therapeutic relationship, clients can build healthier coping skills, improve communication, and strengthen their relationships. I strive to provide a warm, compassionate, and nonjudgmental space where you can feel safe exploring your concerns and discovering new ways forward. Therapy is not about having all the answers; it’s about having support as you find them. You deserve understanding, healing, and meaningful change. When you feel ready, we invite you to reach out.

I'm dedicated to helping you overcome the depression, anxiety, and other emotional difficulties that are holding you back from your success and peace of mind. I want to see you truly thrive. Working together, we can help you gain the clarity and confidence for going forward in your life. My approach to therapy is compassionate, interactive, solution-focused, core-level work, and focused on gaining new perspectives and new skills. You can feel better, stronger, clearer and more confident, as an individual and in your relationship. My aim is to strike the right balance between careful listening and providing helpful information and feedback to you. Sometimes you'll just need to get things off your chest, other times you'll need real answers about important questions. We'll start where you are, and we'll go forward together from there. It's really an honor as a therapist to walk alongside you on your journey from depression, anxiety, or relationship problems toward strength, clarity, and peace of mind. In our work together, I'll be dedicated to helping you understand what's gone wrong, both emotionally as well as practically, and then finding ways to work through and overcome those difficulties. I want you to have hope that you *can* feel much better. Please contact me with any questions you might have, or for a free 30-minute phone consultation.

Are you seeking more safety and security while also craving autonomy and aliveness in your relationships? I help couples find more expansive ways of relating to each other. Our societal scripts can feel limiting, and we often don’t have personal examples of the kind of love and intimacy we most desire. Therapy is a brave space where we can rebuild relationship dynamics from the ground up together. Whether working with relationships or individually, I work as a guide and collaborator, assisting you in building stronger connections with yourself and those around you. Are you seeking more safety and security while also craving autonomy and aliveness in your relationships? I help couples find more expansive ways of relating to each other. Our societal scripts can feel limiting, and we often don’t have personal examples of the kind of love and intimacy we most desire. Therapy is a brave space where we can rebuild relationship dynamics from the ground up together. Whether working with relationships or individually, I work as a guide and collaborator, assisting you in building stronger connections with yourself and those around you. I specialize in LGBTQ+ affirmative therapy. I am also trained in and offer eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), which works with the brain and nervous system to build internal safety and repair developmental or relational trauma. My areas of focus include relationship issues, grief, self-esteem, trauma, and anxiety. I also offer intensives for couples new to non-monogamy. Difficult experiences can sometimes make it hard to see ourselves clearly and know what we really want. What gets in the way of self-compassion, and what blocks the pathways to change? Therapy can be difficult, but it can also be fun, creative, and revelatory. I'm honored to have the opportunity to create a unique space for your growth and self-discovery.

“You’re Not Broken—You’re Stuck. Let’s Get You Unstuck.” As a therapist in practice for 20 years, I’ve worked with individuals and couples from all walks of life, each with their own unique story. I don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all approach. Your experiences, background, trauma, and relationships are yours alone, and your therapy should reflect that. I’m a proactive therapist. This means we won’t just talk—we’ll work together to understand what’s holding you back and build tools to move forward. Whether you’re navigating anxiety, grief, life transitions, or relationship struggles, I provide a tailored, compassionate space where growth can happen. For couples, I help partners break through communication barriers, heal from betrayals, and rebuild connection. I understand how vulnerable it can feel to come to therapy together, and I meet you both with respect, curiosity, and practical strategies that get results. I offer sessions in-person in Los Angeles and virtually for clients across California. Clients often tell me they appreciate my warmth, honesty, and ability to gently challenge old patterns. You don’t have to do this alone. Together, we’ll work toward the life and relationships you want.

You may look like you are functioning well on the outside - successful, creative, accomplished - yet inside you feel tense, blocked, emotionally exhausted, or disconnected from yourself and others. Many of the people I work with are artists, performers, writers, entrepreneurs, and professionals who have learned to push through pain, self-doubt, and relational wounds without fully resolving them. At a certain point, pushing through is no longer enough - you want to feel like yourself again.

I believe that healing happens through genuine, meaningful relationships and lasting change comes when you feel safe to express yourself openly. In therapy, I create a space where you can freely share your thoughts and feelings, without judgment. This relational approach is designed to help you connect with your true self, build confidence, and create lasting change by fostering a deeper understanding of yourself and your experiences. I specialize in working with anxiety, depression, life transitions, loss, grief, self-esteem struggles, trauma, addiction, and relationship challenges. I work with adults, couples, families, children, and adolescents. As a lifelong tennis player and coach, I also have a special interest in helping athletes improve their mental and emotional well-being. If any of this resonates with you, I invite you to reach out for a free consultation.

I love working with people who have complex, complicated pasts. We are indeed shaped by all that has happened to us. However, when we assess what happened and truly understand it (with a new, more informed perspective), we can choose how we want to move forward. I love supporting people with a big vision for the future. So often, life changing events can propel us toward helping others and making the most out of our own lives. As long as we can cope with the uncertainty and self-doubt that too often accompanies these big ideas, we have great opportunity to make an impact in the world. I love supporting my clients in honing their mindset, so they can approach work and life more effectively. When you don't address your blind spots, you can find yourself burned out, unable to leave your clients' concerns at the office, and having difficulty caring for pretty much anything. I find these conditions - compassion fatigue, vicarious trauma, and what I call Sacrificial Helping Syndrome (giving more than you have to the people you serve) - in a lot of professionals who help others.

Is your life in balance? I believe that by the time many people come to therapy they have tried a lot of different things to feel better and change what is creating discomfort and pain and yet life is still out of balance. Many years of experience have taught me that the combination of psychological insight and behavioral change are necessary to make a difference in the two most important areas of life: relationships and work. Without change we "understand" but repeat the same self-defeating behaviors over and over with very little sense of well-being. Family and friends can give support but a psychotherapist is trained, neutral and can say things to you which are hard to hear from others and help you explore aspects of your life which are uncomfortable for you. It would be great if it were really true that"I can say anything to my..fill in the blank.."but realistically often we can't and the broken part of life stays broken. I can help you repair the breaks by using what you know about yourself, what you learn and collaborating on solutions. I understand people holistically-how environmental, social, spiritual, physical, gender and cultural influences shape us. My training provides me with a unique "person in situation" orientation which combines understanding of a person's psychological processes with the world around them. You can have a more balanced and satisfying life.

Trauma informed, Attachment based couples counseling and sex therapy in Pasadena, using a combination of Gottman and EFT interventions. I have specialized in helping couples since 2007, I am experienced and efficient, but also compassionate and sensitive. Relationship problems are a very personal topic, especially if there has been betrayal or hurtful fights. I can help you heal the damage that has happened, I can help you rebuild trust and intimacy. I am direct and practical. The way I do couples therapy is 1). identify the real source of the problem, 2). come up with practical action items that address the problem, each of you are responsible to do your part, and 3). come back and see if it was successful. If the interventions were not working, I will come up with a new plan. In the first session, we dive right in--I will ask both of you to describe the relationship problem(s), I want to fully understand each of your feelings and perspectives. Like doctors looking at symptoms, I will be diagnosing the relationship based on what I hear and observe. I will explain what I think has gone wrong and I will propose the solution. Then we will talk about the practical actions each of you can take to combat the problem. By the end of the first appointment, we should have a treatment plan with clear steps. Couples therapy sessions will not be gripe sessions where you rehash the same arguments in front of me. Each session will be used wisely and be solutions focused. Each of you will be recognized and appreciated for what you did right, and each of you will be held accountable if you fall short. This ensures we are getting progress.

I have been providing psychotherapy for adults, adolescents, children and families for over 17 years. I can help you find relief. My private practice offers a safe and open atmosphere free of judgement and grounded in authenticity. Here you can experience heightened self-acceptance, emotional understanding and tolerance, greater mind-body health, a new sense of empowerment, significant personal growth, and ultimately freedom.

In my work with you (consistent weekly 50 min sessions), I step in as a guide on your path, and am versed in being able to see things from a larger, more symbolic perspective with you, to help you do that with better ease yourself. The approach I use is called "holistic" because I am looking at your personality traits, strengths, talents, gifts, weaknesses, body system, energy system, heart, emotions, relationships, moods, and mental orientation to piece together the choices you have made on your journey here. Together, we look at Who You Are in a deeper way, and with a lot of love, empathy and compassion. What works and what is not working? Where are you stuck? Where are you in pain? Where do you feel empty, bored or lost? What do you long for? Where do you feel flow and joy? How are your relationships working or not working? Then we notice patterns and dynamics that repeat year after year. These show up in your physical world and your physical body. Perhaps there is loss, grief, anger, guilt or shame holding you back. I help you clear this so that more of your life force is freed up and you can live a more fulfilling life of your choosing. Many of our patterns are attachment related and go back to a time when we were very young or little. I can help you see this with greater insight, help you know yourself deeper, and fall more in love with your life journey. In this way, I am working with you the person, as well as you the Soul. I am not afraid to address the concept of the "soul" together and your deeper connection to all. In fact, it is imperative that we do.

If you're feeling overwhelmed by anxiety, trauma, relationship stress, or major life transitions, therapy can provide a space to slow down, gain clarity, and begin making meaningful changes. Therapy is collaborative and culturally responsive, grounded in creating a safe and affirming space where you can explore your experiences without judgment. Informed by principles of liberation psychology and social justice, we explore not only individual experiences, but also how culture, identity, and systemic factors influence mental health. Therapy can be a place to process trauma, challenge internalized messages, and reconnect with your genuine self.