I’m a licensed psychotherapist working in private practice. I see people for in-person therapy in San Francisco. For people who prefer online therapy, I am able to provide telehealth sessions to clients throughout California.

The primarily focus of my practice is work with people from a variety of different backgrounds and in many different life circumstances. I work with teens, adults and elders. I also work with couples and people in non-traditional relationships. My clients are straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, cisgender, women, men, and gender non-binary. Geographically, my clients come from many places—ranging from people who immigrated to the U.S. to people born and raised in San Francisco.

Approximately two-thirds of my clients are part of the LGBTQ community, the polyamorous community, have kink as an important part of their identity, or consider themselves “unconventional” in some way. The other one-third of my clients do not fall into any of these categories and were drawn to working with me for reasons unrelated to those areas of my practice. What all of my clients have in common is a level of dedication to personal growth and development and a strong desire to improve an important aspect of their lives.

My work with LGBTQ+ Couples

I know many wonderful, culturally-astute, and non-judgemental therapists who are not part of the LGBTQ community. I can say with certainty that there are many therapists outside of our community who work well with people inside of our community. I refer to these therapists often and consider many of them friends. Nonetheless, I understand that some clients feel strongly about working with a gay, queer or trans therapist to help with queer relationship troubles. These clients seek someone who “gets it” without lengthy explanations.

The LGBTQ+ couples who come to see me are usually looking specifically for a queer therapist or a gay therapist. They know that couples therapy will require sharing intimate details about their lives. These couples seek an unambiguously supportive space so that they can focus on what is important—caring for the relationship that is precious to them. They worry about the potential for misunderstandings or awkwardness with a therapist who isn’t part of the community. Or they expect that they will feel too distracted, wondering what a straight therapist thinks of them. These clients anticipate that working with a LGBTQ-identified therapist will allow them to let down their guard enough to talk honestly about relationship.

Some clients also find it important to know that their therapist has had some of the same life experiences as them. They like knowing that their therapist has had their own journey with gender and sexuality, their own experience of coming out, and their own experience of the world’s response when one’s identity and desires don’t match social expectations.

If you are interested in exploring individual therapy with me or if you and your partner are interested in exploring couples therapy with me, I encourage you to contact me. I will be happy to hear from you.