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APPROACH

I specialize in the treatment of anxiety and stress management. Holding your life together can feel isolating.  The fast-paced, high stakes world we live in can be overwhelming and obscure our sense of who we are, what really matters to us, the hopes we once had for our lives, and where we want to go from here.

I work with individuals and couples to heal relationships that are in crisis or stuck in difficult and painful patterns. Helping clients to improve their communication skills and speak directly, both honestly and appropriately, can ease distress in relationships.

My approach is eclectic and drawn from both short and long-term evidence-based techniques. I do not believe in a “one size fits all” approach to therapy I regularly attend conferences and workshops to ensure I am up to date with developments in the field. I have a particular interest in the study of Neuroscience and how it informs the treatment of trauma and mood disorders.

The modalities I employ when working with clients are Psychodynamic and Attachment theories, and Polyvagal therapy, with its focus on the mind-body connection and regulation of the central nervous system.

I also use Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) interventions where appropriate (including CBT-I for insomnia treatment), and Intensive Short Term Dynamic Psychotherapy. For couples work I am trained in Emotionally Focused Therapy. Please ask me if you would like to know more about these treatment styles.

MY OWN EXPERIENCE

With my background in law in London and as an executive in feature film and TV production in both London and LA, I have empathy for the challenges of working in the creative and professional fields. It can feel stressful to maintain our lives, or our expectations of what those lives should be. I understand these struggles and can help you work through feelings of anxiety or difficulties in coping.

Having lived and worked in Europe and Asia as well as in the US, I appreciate and understand cultural diversity and am sensitive to working with clients from different ethnicities. Over the years I have gained considerable experience in working with mixed-race couples adjusting to their different backgrounds, and culturally traditional immigrant families with US-born children who may have difficulties relating to one other. My time in SE Asia has also helped me bring a centered mindfulness to my work.

I am a referral source and provider for UCLA Counseling and Psychological Services, and enjoy working with high schoolers and college students to help provide tools to deal with academic and/or social and life stage pressures.

Education and Training

  • MA in Clinical Psychology, California Graduate Institute at the Chicago School of Professional Psychology, Los Angeles

  • MFT license #52252, CA Board of Behavioral Sciences

  • LLB in Law, London University, England

  • Trained in Intensive Short-Term Psychodynamic Therapy (ISTDP) and Dynamic Emotion Focused Therapy

  • Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) for couples; Alliant International University, San Diego

  • Certificate in Couples and Sex Therapy; American Association of Marriage and Sex Therapists, UCLA

  • Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) for trauma; EMDR Institute Training

  • Certificate in Psychodynamic Treatment of Trauma; Los Angeles Institute of Psychoanalytic Studies (LAISPS)

  • CBT-I (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia) training with Dr Gregg D. Jacobs, a principal developer of CBT-I at Harvard Medical School and University of Massachusetts Medical School

past RELEVANT EXPERIENCE

  • Full-time Primary Therapist, Summit Malibu substance abuse residential rehabilitation clinic; Malibu, CA

  • Prop 36 court-mandated substance abuse management program therapist

  • Domestic violence program group therapist, counseling in anger management issues

Professional affiliations

  • California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT)

  • Los Angeles - California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (LACAMFT)

  • American Association of Marriage and Sex Therapists (AACAST)

  • The International Center for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy (ICEEFT)