What you can expect

I provide effective treatment in a responsive, compassionate, and collaborative atmosphere.  I take a pragmatic approach, looking for what will be most helpful and then implementing evidence-based practices tailored to each individual or family. You can expect help to identify and define your problem and your goals, and then get expert guidance to utilize effective tools that will help you or your youth to overcome your challenges.   

My Philosophy

I believe that people are highly adaptive: each of us is always adapting to our past and current experiences to try to be the best we can be.  Some of us face more challenges than others such as ADHD or a learning disability. Sometimes we discover that the coping strategies we have learned in the past are not working anymore.  Sometimes life circumstances change and ask us to adapt more quickly than we are ready to do on our own.  If you are looking for assistance to help your child grow and adapt, grow and adapt as a parent, change old patterns, or improve relationships, I can help.  I offer collaborative psychotherapy and psychological assessment that is tailored specifically to your goals.  

My approach to treating children and adolescents is to balance skill-building, supportive therapy, family relationship improvement, and collateral work with parents to help youth work toward optimal functioning. Each family and situation is unique and the work I do with each youth and family is optimized collaboratively for their specific needs. I believe that relationships between parents and youth are an important component for helping youth overcome whatever challenges they are facing.

When I see young children with their parents, I utilize the Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) model.

With my adult clients, I work primarily from an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) stance, and bring in useful tools from other evidence based treatments including Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT).  

When I conduct formal assessments, I ground my practice in the principles of the Therapeutic-Collaborative Assessment model.  

Education and Training

After earning my BA in psychology from Dartmouth College in 2001, I obtained my doctoral degree in clinical psychology (PsyD) from The Wright Institute in 2009.

In 2010 I completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Kaiser Permanente in Martinez, CA with emphases on utilizing evidence based treatments to help adults and youth overcome anxiety, transform depression, and build meaningful relationships.  In this fellowship I led a group utilizing Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) to treat high anxiety and panic, and I also facilitated a recurring parenting class to help parents navigate the challenges they faced with their children.  

Following my fellowship at Kaiser I sought training and experience with helping parents with their children ages 0-6 utilizing Child-Parent Psychotherapy to help both parent and child develop enhanced coping strategies that allowed them to create a deeper, more secure, and more satisfying relationship.  

I then spent four years at WestCoast Children’s clinic as a staff member providing in-depth psychological assessments.

Since returning to Kaiser Permanente as a staff member in 2016, I have gained extensive experience treating children and adolescents with a variety of presenting challenges. I have developed a clinical focus on assessment and treatment of ADHD in children.

I am passionate about serving as a clinical supervisor for doctoral students at all levels from first year through postdoctoral residency.