About Me

I’m a Bay Area native, fluent in English and Spanish, and bicultural. I’ve spent more than 15 years working with children, teens and families, and that experience shapes everything about how I work.

My background

Before private practice, I spent years working in the community. I started as a counselor for children and teens in foster care and on probation, helping them build coping skills, manage anger and stay in stable placements. I later supervised a team of counselors and therapists in a wraparound program serving youth in crisis, and worked on Alameda County’s mobile crisis team, responding in person when children were in danger.

After earning my MSW at UC Berkeley, I worked as a therapist at San Francisco Juvenile Hall and then spent several years as a school-based therapist at an elementary school, eventually as the only clinician on site. That’s where I did much of my work with young children and their families, using play therapy and partnering closely with parents and teachers.

These experiences taught me to stay calm in hard moments, to meet people where they are, and to take every family’s situation seriously.

Training

• Master of Social Work, UC Berkeley (2016)

• Licensed Clinical Social Worker, California #109043

• Pupil Personnel Services Credential in School Social Work (2016)

• CBT Essentials I and II, Beck Institute (2025)

• Currently studying psychoanalytic theory at the San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis

I’ve also pursued additional training in play therapy and trauma-focused CBT, and I meet regularly with a senior colleagues for consultation.

Outside the office

When I’m not working, I spend time with my partner, my shepherd-husky, and friends and family around the Bay, and I try to stay strong through powerlifting (though these days, consistency matters more to me than personal records!).