I am a psychologist with a private practice in Oakland, CA, licensed since 2002. I have long standing clinical expertise in treating Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, Shopping Addiction and in working with Relationship Distress. I also work very effectively with Anxiety, Depression, Traumatic Stress Recovery, Work Stress, Family Conflict and Coping with Loss of connection after a break up, family conflict, divorce or death.
I earned my PhD in clinical psychology in 1999 from the UCSD/SDSU Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology.
I Interned at the Palo Alto VA Healthcare System in 1998-1999, with focus on neuropsychology and psychotherapy.
And I was granted an NIMH funded research and psychotherapy postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University 1999-2002.
I live in Oakland with my husband, teenaged daughter and two dogs.
About Me
My Approach
I have an integrative approach that I can tailor specifically to be most helpful to you and to create lasting, meaningful changes.
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is a very practical approach with specific and easy to use tools and exercises. It has very high treatment success rates, especially with OCD (using Exposure and Response Prevention), Anxiety and Depression.
Attachment Theory is a very useful approach to use in relationship work. Understanding the differences between secure, anxious and disorganized attachments enough to observe when and why traumatized or anxious attachment styles might be triggered for you, and what can be done to shift your interaction pattern into a more secure and healthy one. Attachment is a two person game, of course. But recognizing unhealthy interaction patterns, knowing how to change your part of the interaction, and understanding the other person's reactivity can potentially change everything.
Emotion Focused Therapy for Couples
"Depth Psychotherapy"