My services: I provide telecare and in-person psychotherapy based out of Long Beach, CA and tend to work with clients on exploration of their gender and relational identities, body relationship, accepting and affirming neurodivergence, and processing traumas. I am trained in EMDR and use it as a flexible tool to aid processing, and am honored to provide formal assessment to support letters advocating for gender-affirming medical and other services.

My privileges and identities: As a therapist with white and cisgender privilege and lived experience through invisible disability, Fatness, and neurodivergence, as well as many personal stakes in allyship and advocacy, I am devoted to continuing my education of the unique lived experiences of those with differing intersections of privilege and oppression. I have particular passions for serving those who struggle with body image and trauma whose stories are overlooked–those in Fat, racially oppressed, disabled, neurodivergent, and genderqueer bodies seeking safety in the same bodies that hold their traumas.

My education: Although I credit direct experience and mentorship from those with lived experience for the most impactful parts of my education, I obtained my Masters of Science in Mental Health Counseling from California State University, Fullerton, and my Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Social Behavior from the University of California, Irvine. My Masters thesis explored the insights of queer clinicians on affirming trauma-informed care for multiply-marginalized genderqueer clients, and focused primarily on lived experience and various forms of body oppression as well as harms perpetuated by hierarchical systems of care. I served my practicum year at the LGBTQ Center of Orange County and received specialized education in gender-affirming care and advocacy, including writing effective letters advocating for gender-affirming medical care.

My praxis: Although holding a formal education and a state-recognized license keep me integrated in hierarchical and oppressive systems of care, I center anti-oppressive approaches in my daily work to acknowledge and address oppressive forces in my work with clients. I honor lived experience and own stories first, and thereafter seek “evidence-based” data in alignment with my clients’ wisdom and needs. I see clients and those sharing their stories as the experts, and only seek to offer them new tools and paths to explore and continue living their story with dignity.