Walking Alongside Youth and Families for Over 15 Years
For nearly two decades, I’ve had the honor of supporting young people through growth, transition, and healing. My work is grounded in deep respect for each family’s story and shaped by both extensive professional experience and my own lived experience as a parent, a neurodivergent person, and a once rebellious teen. I approach therapy with warmth and curiosity, holding a strong belief in each person’s innate capacity for resilience, connection, and healing.
Early in my career, I served as a counselor in a Level 14 residential adolescent treatment center, where I supported youth with complex emotional and behavioral needs. Later I worked with the City of Sacramento, supporting hundreds of economically disadvantaged urban youth through life skills development, work readiness, leadership opportunities, and empowerment-focused programming.
After beginning my own parenting journey, I relocated with my husband and first child to Nevada City, where I continued my commitment to young people. I supported Yuba River Charter School as an Assistant Business Manager and later worked with the Nevada County Superintendent of Schools to introduce entrepreneurship curriculum across three Nevada County charter schools. While I value contributing to high-level community initiatives, I recognized that I deeply missed direct, relational work with youth and their families.
This realization led me to formally integrate clinical training into my community work. I completed my graduate education at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in San Francisco, an institution known for its holistic, culturally responsive approach to training Marriage and Family Therapists, with a strong emphasis on liberation psychology and transpersonal perspectives.
In addition to my private practice, I have had the honor of serving Sierra Native Alliance (SNA), a community wellness organization that prioritizes care for Native American individuals and families. In my role as a behavioral health counselor with SNA, I have been trained at the intersection of Native traditional healing practices and Western psychology. My clinical work has primarily focused on supporting children, teens, and their families through non-directive play therapy, and when indicated Gestalt therapy, Brainspotting, and Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT).
I am honored to walk alongside children, teens, and families on their paths toward deeper healing, connection, and resilience.