Our humanity, and our authenticity within it, is unique to each and every individual, and is a vital component of how I think of, and practice, therapy.

Queer Informed Narrative Therapy is the core foundation of my therapeutic work, and the philosophy from which I both work and live. I experience myself as someone deeply committed to the principles of Narrative Therapy, Queer Informed Narrative Therapy, therapeutic access, de-pathologization, and competent, culturally informed care for LGBQAA+, transgender, gender non-conforming, and intersex communities. I aim to live into these values and ethics not just by providing therapy directly to individuals, but also by providing training, teaching, supervision, consultation, and competency development, with other mental health workers at all levels. 

Traditional concepts of therapy have been, and often still are, set up in ways which are described as feeling sterile, distant, and tend to presume that the therapist is the expert - including presuming that the therapist is the expert on the individual(s) they are working with as well. My perspective is quite different;  I believe that showing up as authentically as possible and creating real relationships are key to the therapeutic process - not just when seeking therapy, but also when providing it. 

As such, I believe strongly that the person(s) I am working with will always be the expert on their own life. I conceptualize my role as a therapist in several ways; it is always to walk alongside folks and to foster new connections to overgrown or subtle paths that split off from the well-worn Problem Stories of the Self and of one's life, it is sometimes to educate and build out various knowledges, and it is never to bend someone's experiences and self-expertise to match with my own pre-conceptions or worldview.

While I consider myself primarily a Queer Informed Narrative Therapist, I am first and foremost client-guided - what matters to me is that someone is getting what they feel is what they need from our time together.  Ultimately, I believe it is the Relationships where the work I do can foster Curiosity and Change: 

The Relationship between the therapist and the individual(s) they're working with

The Relationship between the Person and the Self

The Relationships between the Person and Problems

The Relationships to the Context around us - from the global to the minute-by-minute

Please feel free to explore this website, as there is a fair amount of content and information to explore. Perhaps it will influence whether or not I will have the privilege of walking alongside you for a time, as well.

I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in California, License # 112607