I grew up in rural northern Nevada in a small mining town of 150 people. I moved to the Bay Area in 2009 after graduating college at Lewis & Clark in Portland, Oregon. Prior to attending graduate school and pursuing a career as a clinical therapist, I worked in community centers in San Francisco supporting, developing, and running academic enrichment programs for youth and their families.

In 2014, I moved to Detroit, Michigan to pursue my Masters in Social Work from the University of Michigan. While in school, I continued my work with young people and community-based organizations, ultimately focusing on community organizing as a vehicle for collective healing. I grew so much during my time in Michigan, but ultimately had to admit that I am not cut out for winter. And so I fled, back to sunny California.

Since returning to the Bay, I have worked for various community centers, programs and schools to provide mental health services to youth and families. I have supported youth in the California foster system, as well as their biological families and foster families; I developed a clinical case management program for a high school in San Francisco; and I was a therapist, program manager and clinical supervisor for a Multidimensional Family Therapy (MDFT) program in Contra Costa County.

In 2024 I started my own private practice. Now I get to be rooted in one place, decide my own rules (within ethical and clinical reason, of course), and manage my own case load so that I know when I show up, I’m showing up fully.

Through all of this, I have learned (and been taught) to recognize the various ways that systems, cultures, and structures of power impact the individual and collective human experience. I am acutely aware of systemic inequality and injustices; and am I committed to their counterparts—community and collective care. I initially struggled with my decision to shift into private pay work because I believe that all people deserve access to high quality mental health services, regardless of ability to pay. I also know that I am a better therapist when I am not overworked and have the minimum financial security necessary to survive in the Bay Area. I bridge and honor these two realities by maintaining a number of sliding scale spots (made possible by those who pay full fee); and maintaining a number of spots available only to people with Medi-Cal insurance. I am committed to adjusting and changing my policies and practices to align with my values; and to always make space for new information, perspectives and lived experiences that my community and clients reveal to me daily.

At my core, I’m still just a small town girl trying to make it in the big city (Oakland), and trying to navigate this wild place (Earth) the best I can, while I can.