San Francisco Bay Area based virtual therapist with special focus on BIPOC, immigrant, queer, and folks struggling with trauma, ADHD, depression, and anxiety in California, Washington, and Hawai’i.

A smiling woman with short black hair and round glasses in front of a light green and yellow bamboo hedge. She is wearing a white, ribbed sweater.

Specialties.

Trauma.

When we experience trauma, our bonds with ourselves, others, and the world are deeply wounded. Though healing can happen individually, even more healing can happen relationally and communally. Just as the trees in the forest feed each other, we humans can provide each other with nourishment that may not be available to us or others at any given time. In my practice, I have 3 foundational beliefs when it comes to healing from trauma: 1) Trust and believe the survivor. 2) Acknowledge the systems of oppression that are involved in the trauma. 3) Trust the survivor’s innate wisdom and strength in guiding their healing journey.

I’m grateful to have trained at multiple community centers that specifically provided counseling to trauma survivors, as well as alongside communities disproportionately affected by trauma. At this time, I’m deepening my training in Internal Family Systems (IFS), an approach to trauma therapy that values compassion, curiosity, and non-judgment. IFS firmly believes in the innate capacities and wisdom in each of us to love, heal, and guide ourselves, while acknowledging the very real constraints existing in the systems around us.

ADHD.

ADHD struggles are so misunderstood. We’re often described as “lazy”, “all over the place,” “too much,” or “too sensitive” by people who don’t understand the complexity of living with ADHD. On the other hand, some outright deny the existence of ADHD and chalk it up to a will power problem, while others will say we’re just “quirky.” As someone who lives with ADHD, it’s been hard to find others who fully acknowledge the entire picture of ADHD - the good, the bad, and the hilarious. I want to validate the frustrations of living with ADHD, including its impacts on our self worth, emotions, stress, mood, relationships, work, creativity, hormones, and so much more. I also want to help you find the beautiful parts of your brain that you love with a combination of ADHD-informed tools, skills, and resources, as well as ADHD-informed therapy.

Immigration, race, and intergenerational trauma.

Black, indigenous, people of color, and immigrants & refugees have often borne the brunt of systems of oppression, including but not limited to white supremacy, patriarchy, imperialism, capitalism, and colonialism. The sociopolitical contexts of our ancestors’ lives are deeply intertwined with our own experiences of trauma. Having a space to acknowledge, name, and explore our ancestral gifts and grief can pave the way for us to heal our own stories and those that have come before us.

A lot of us have also struggled between two disparate worlds: our cultures of origin and the dominant cultures of this country. It can feel impossible to find a sense of home, belonging, and identity in the jumble of expectations coming from all directions. My hope is to help you discover the beauty of the unique intersection of all that you are and your “true home in the here and now” as Zen Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh describes after finding a true sense of home in exile.

LGBTQIA2S+ and Disabled Communities.

LGBTQIA2S+ and Disabled people also disproportionately shoulder the dehumanizing effects of existing systems of oppression, as well as cis/heteronormativity and ableism. Although we’ve been around forever, it can sometimes feel like there’s no place for us. Even within other communities, like cultural, faith-based, racial, or ethnic, gender/sex-based communities, we may feel still feel like outcasts within the outcasts. While acknowledging the very real and at times, painful and terrifying, oppression and exclusion exists, I want to carve out a space for us to bathe in our joy and self-love as a radical act. Although we cannot eliminate systems of oppression (yet), we can negotiate our relationship to them and embody the love, acceptance, belonging, and compassion we want to see in the world by becoming a beautiful home for ourselves.

A close up of white pear blossoms blooming on a tree branch. The background is made up of intertwining tree branches against the a cloudy sky.

A small brush rabbit sitting on a sandy path next to grasses and leaves and a faint rainbow.

A monarch butterfly with orange and black wings with white dots on the tips resting on a tree branch with green leaves and pink buds. In the background there are blurred outlines of the blue sky and additional tree leaves.

A yellow and black warbler bird perched on a thin, grey brown branch among bright green leaves and light green and brown acorns.