Therapist & Educator
Registered Associate Clinical Social Worker
Offering Online Therapy in California
Clinical Specialties
Polyamory & Consensual Non-monogamy
Polyamory and consensual non-monogamy can look a lot of different ways. Just like in monogamous relationships...
Fat Liberation & Health at Every Size
Fat liberation is about more than body positivity. And "Health at Every Size" is about more than showing that weight neutral...
Neurodiversity
Neurodiversity-affirming therapy acknowledges and celebrates the natural diversity of human minds as a neutral or even positive part...
Disabilities & Chronic Illness
Disability justice is something that deeply informs my work as a therapist. I don't believe that our value as human beings is tied...
LGBTQIA+
I specialize in working with LGBTQIA+ people, and especially with members of the trans community. As a trans person myself, I know what it's like to spend your precious time educating your therapist about the basics of your gender experience. I got into this field in part because I wanted to be able to provide fellow trans people with gender-affirming care.
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I love working with people across the expansive trans umbrella; people who are trans, non-binary, questioning, gender non-conforming, intersex, butch, fem/me, agender, genderqueer, asexual/aromantic, and so much more. I work with people who bend gender as loudly as they can and people who want to blend right in. Those who know exactly who they are, and those who are still figuring it out. The people who transitioned decades ago and never want to talk about it again, and the people who just spoke their truth out loud for the very first time. The people who feel like they're not trans enough, and the people who are exhausted from being visibly trans in a transphobic world.
I understand that no two trans or gender non-conforming people are identical. I know that providing gender-affirming care means truly listening to your individual story.
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I also work with people across the spectrum of sexual and romantic orientations. Exploring your sexual identity brings up the beautiful complexities of attraction, desire, and connection. Whether you're questioning where you might fall under the ace umbrella, navigating coming out as queer to family, learning to navigate a new sexual subculture, dealing with biphobia in your community, or deconstructing internalized homophobia, I'm here for all of it. I find great joy in supporting people through these chapters of growth and healing. I've had the unique experience of being L, G, B, T, and Q at different points in my own life, which has given me insight into a broad variety of subcultures and experiences.
No matter where you are in your journey, you are welcome here. You deserve to know what it feels like to bring your whole self to therapy and be seen and appreciated for who you are.
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You deserve to know what it feels like to bring your whole self to therapy and be seen and appreciated for who you are.
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Kink, BDSM, & Sex Work
I believe kink & BDSM are ways of connecting with each other, and ourselves, that can be enormously healing.
There is still so much stigma against kink practitioners in the mental health field. I believe kink & BDSM are ways of connecting with each other, and ourselves, that can be enormously healing. Some trauma survivors use kink & BDSM as ways to integrate traumatic experiences or improve their ability to connect with their body's internal systems of safety and connection. Some neurodivergent people use kink & BDSM as ways of getting sensory and social needs met. Some people experience kink & BDSM as part of their spiritual practices. And many others are simply enjoying a pleasant, consensual experience that just happens to deviate from societal norms.
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Many of my clients simply want a provider who won't judge them when they mention the fun evening they had with their partner. Others want help building skills for communication and self-awareness so that they can navigate this part of their life safely. I also frequently work with sex workers from various parts of the sex industry who struggle to find knowledgeable, affirming providers.
I understand that kink, BDSM, and sex work, (like ALL other kinds of intimate relationships and jobs) can also be sites of harm, trauma, or even abuse. I think it's important that you have a space where you can process those experiences, without fearing that your therapist will use those realities to judge your entire community.
Clients often tell me what a relief it is when they mention a kink and find that their therapist is already familiar with the ins and outs of that sexual subculture. My knowledge of kink & BDSM goes beyond just "awareness" or "acceptance".
I understand that this may be an important part of who you are which deserves to be honored in the therapy room as much as any other part of you.
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Polyamory & Consensual non-monogamy
Polyamory and consensual non-monogamy can look a lot of different ways. Just like in monogamous relationships, we can experience challenges related to attachment, communication, and trust. And, just like in monogamous relationships, we can experience unbelievable joy, connection, and companionship.
Often when people see therapists who are not poly-friendly, they're told that their relationship problems are evidence that they should be monogamous. You deserve to know what it's like to work with a therapist who is not waiting for the next opportunity to pitch monogamy to you. You've been sold monogamy your whole life; you don't need to pay a therapist to pitch it to you again.
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Some of my poly clients choose me because they just want someone who understands the backdrop of their life. Other times clients come to me because they want to discuss the specific challenges that can arise in a poly dynamic. Others still, come to me because they want to deepen their understanding of their own practice of consensual non-monogamy.
Polyamorous people don't have the privilege of the ubiquitous cultural blueprint that exists for monogamous relationships. This means we often have to figure things out for ourselves as we go along. The beauty of this is that, since we aren't following a script, poly people often disrupt traditional relationship structures in beautiful and imaginative ways. The challenge is that it can sometimes feel like stumbling around in the dark.
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In our work together you can rest easy knowing that I'm not going to be focused on pitching monogamy to you. This means that there can be room to talk through both the joys and the challenges of being poly.
You deserve to know what it's like to work with a therapist who is not waiting for the next opportunity to pitch monogamy to you.
Fat Liberation & Health at Every Size
There is no threshold we can cross where I will stop believing that your fat body is valuable, where I will start buying into the diet industry, or where I will preach weight loss as a viable or safe approach to addressing health concerns.
Fat liberation is about more than body positivity. And "Health at Every Size" is about more than showing that weight-neutral approaches to health are more effective. I have been a participant in fat liberation communities for over a decade now. I find that most people's journeys to understanding fatphobia/fatmisia (fear and hatred of fat people) are long and personal. I'm here to work with you as you unravel the internalized messages about health, beauty, and worth that have been aimed at marginalized bodies for so long.
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It breaks my heart how often I hear about clients who have gone to a provider who labels themselves as "HAES-friendly" or "body-positive", only to find out months into that vulnerable process that their therapist still harbors anti-fat, pro-diet views. There is no threshold we can cross where I will stop believing that your fat body is valuable, where I will start buying into the diet industry, or where I will preach weight loss as a risk-free approach to addressing health concerns.
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A crucial part of my approach to fat liberation is where it intersects with disability justice. It is easy to fall into the trap of focusing on demonstrating, with our own fat bodies, that it is possible to be both fat and healthy. But what about those of us who are fat and disabled? Fat and chronically ill? What about those of us for whom "perfect health" itself is not achievable, regardless of size? We are all deserving of access, care, love, and freedom from discrimination.
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I believe in your worth, your autonomy, and your right to access compassionate, individualized care. I understand that body image, health, gender identity, ableism, and discrimination can form a complex vortex of fatphobia that is difficult to untangle. You don't have to face it alone.
Neurodiversity
Neurodiversity affirming therapy acknowledges and celebrates the natural diversity of human minds as a neutral or even positive part of the human condition. Our minds are all different and this is a collective strength that benefits us all.
A common misconception is that “neurodivergent” only refers to people with diagnoses of autism or ADHD. However, the word actually refers to all people whose brains “diverge” in some significant way from what our culture considers “normal”. This includes things like mood disorders (depression, anxiety), traumatic brain injuries, etc.
As a neurodivergent therapist, I find so much joy in working with neurodivergent clients. I frequently work with autistic people and ADHDers who were not diagnosed until adulthood. Often our work involves cultivating self-trust and self-compassion, finding alternative ways to navigate adulthood, learning to communicate needs and limits, and learning how to “unmask” (aka reducing the time and energy we expend trying to appear “neurotypical”).
No matter how your brain works, my goal is to give you a space where you can be understood, have your strengths honored, have your challenges acknowledged, experience true compassion, and collaborate to explore how you would like to live your life with the brain you have… not the one you feel like you’re “supposed” to have.
Disabilities & chronic illness
Ableism (discrimination against people with disabilities and health issues) is a huge issue in healthcare, that is only compounded when it is combined with other experiences of oppression like racism, transphobia, sizeism, or misognyny. Many of my disabled and chronically ill clients have experienced being dismissed by therapists or have been given inappropriate medical guidance (like being told to "simply lose weight, try yoga, or take vitamins" to deal with serious health issues).
Being chronically ill or disabled can be a very isolating and disempowering experience because our society makes health a moral issue and fails to provide adequate social safety nets. You shouldn’t have to wonder whether your therapist is going to doubt you, judge you, or attempt to give you misguided medical advice.
I implicitly trust that all of my disabled and chronically ill clients are sharing their truth with me. As a disabled person myself, I know how deeply vulnerable that sharing can be. I have been involved in disabled community and learning about disability justice since 2009, and the tenants of disability justice inform who I am as a person and a therapist. I work from a social model of disability, which acknowledges that it is frequently society which disables us as much or more than our health issues themselves.
Your health and your productivity are not a reflection of your value as a human being or your moral character. Interdependence is not a weakness- it is a human need and strength. You deserve accommodations and access to resources.. You know your body better than anyone. Your concerns, limits, and needs deserve to be heard. You are not a burden!
A note: Most of the time, my lived experience as a disabled person simply enriches my work with disabled clients. Sometimes, however, we can run into competing needs. I try to be transparent from the beginning about how this may come up. For example, because of my own disabilities, I work limited hours. As a result, I cannot always be as flexible as I would like to be about things like cancellation policies, fees, and scheduling. I know that flexibility around these issues can be a need for many chronically ill clients, so I like to be transparent about this upfront so that you can make an informed choice about whether we are compatible as client and therapist.