I wish everyone knew that mental health doesn’t mean you’re weak, lazy, or dramatic.  Mental health is shaped by biology, trauma, culture, relationships, stress, identity, and access to support - it’s part of being human.  When individuals understand mental health, shame decreases, people reach out for help, healing becomes possible, and we are able to build a more compassionate community.

I enjoy using a multicultural, transgenerational, and person-centered approach with mindfulness- and strength-based techniques through a trauma-focused lens.  These approaches honor culture and identity, build safety and trust, teach coping skills, support emotional processing, empower clients through their own strengths, and restore agency and self-compassion, helping clients:

Make sense of trauma and rebuild internal safety,

See the bigger system they’re a part of and reclaim agency within it,

Slow down, notice, and choose rather than react, and

See themselves as capable, not broken

My approach to therapy is working together to help you feel safe, understand yourself more deeply, honor your culture and experiences, build on your own strengths, and learn practical tools to heal and move forward.

If I wasn’t a therapist, I would be a paramedic because both professions value helping people feel safe, responding with compassion, and showing up for someone when they need the support during their most vulnerable moments or when things feel a little too overwhelming.

Something that always makes me smile is when a client has a moment of self-compassion or recognizes a strength that they didn’t realize they had.  These small shifts are powerful.

 Anything crafty (crochet blankets and stuffed animals, amigurumi, making invitations, stickers, t-shirts, vinyl decals, etc), baking, gardening, traveling, spending time with my friends and family on the east coast.