My Story:

I wanted to share are few snippets from my life and career, so you can get to know a bit about who I am, and how I got here:

I would consider my soft start in the field of social services as a teenager, working as a tutor, camp counselor, and eventually a classroom teacher. I grew a lot, developing skills around patience and empathy. It became an important lesson on how to “meet a client where they are at.”

These years led up to my first bout at college. I had the intentions of pursuing Engineering, as a self-identified math and rational type. But during this time, I started to have doubts. I entered a period of questioning with where life was taking me. I withdrew from college, and did some soul searching.

Journalling became an important part of my self-discovery journey, and is something I highly encourage as a clinician. Journalling challenges us to put thoughts into words and images. This practice leads to better self-knowing, and Insight.

Over time, it became obvious I had limitations in developing new insights on my own - I had blind spots. I was fortunate enough to find support through therapy and other mentors. Having a place to bounce off ideas, thoughts, and fears with trusted others allowed me to deepen and stretch my exploration, in trying to solve a quarter-life crisis.

After some time working assorted social service jobs, and a handful of important life experiences, I was able to refine my calling, inevitably pulling me towards the field of mental health. It was a pursuit I considered personally meaningful, intellectually/emotionally challenging/rewarding, and socially/culturally important.

In returning to school to pursue a Master’s of Arts in Psychology from Antioch University Los Angeles, I also began working with clients in a psychotherapeutic setting. Initially, I worked in a community health setting with low income clients, on a “sliding scale” payment model. This included individuals, couples and families from the greater Los Angeles area. A majority of my work was what I would consider low-risk depression, anxiety, and relationship problems.

Eventually, I sought new types of work, and transitioned into Dual Diagnosis; the intersection of mental disorder and substance abuse. Clients here were notoriously high risk. I worked in halfway homes, detoxes, PHP, and IOP programs during the (still ongoing) opioid epidemic. I’ve worked with clients affected by homelessness, eating disorders, psychosis, legal issues, and a wide variety of traumas and maladaptive behaviors. While absolutely challenging, I found myself willing, able, and driven. I worked with individuals, couples, families, and ran treatment groups routinely. I gained a lot of dynamic wisdom, and sharpened my craft during my 5+ years in this part of the field.

Nowadays, I reside in San Diego, and work with clients California-wide via telehealth with a wide spectrum of challenges; Depression, Anxiety, Grief, Anger, Apathy, Loneliness, Shame, Fear, Relational Issues, Career Issues.

While people and problems are widely diverse and subjective, I believe we have fundamental needs for mental and emotional wellness:

•to feel safe, healthy, and confident in our bodies and environments.

•to feel loved and connected to the people and world around us. 

•to find activity and purpose that is sufficiently challenging, interesting, and meaningful.

•to be at peace and find joy.

I consider myself to be philosophical, non-traditional and humorous by nature, but look to boil things down into simplified, pragmatic, and actionable wisdoms.

Ultimately, I want to see people succeed in their ventures, and I see my therapist role as a sort of guide, cheerleader, ally, or sometimes, just a witness.

Thanks for reading.

My Interests

I wanted to share some other parts of my life, as they may elude to some of my niche or specialized knowledge.

Gaming and internet culture

Since the days of dial up, I had an instant fascination for puzzles, riddles, and particularly, games. I just find them tremendously stimulating: theory, deduction, strategy, competition, teamwork, probabilities, luck. As a self-identified thinking type, it gave me a lot to think about.

Online gaming was an instant attraction, and a large part of my adolescence. Playing with real life friends, and eventually online friends, created a new platform for social relationships, with unique dynamics. Being a part of this community has taught me valuable lessons about thinking outside the box. It’s been fascinating to watch this initially invisible sub-culture make it’s way into the mainstream in such a short time-span. And I expect it will continue to be prevalent to our culture and future.

Working as a therapist, a client’s stuckness or hurt is a sort of puzzle to me. I try to deconstruct and understand what’s happening. I look for patterns or reoccurring themes. What is working, and what is not? If you are not reaching your desired potential, with genuine curiosity and love, I want to understand why. How can we improve your game?

Fire and Flow Arts

A subculture in its own right, fire and flow arts is a movement based discipline and art form I have been practicing for over 10 years (which, by no coincidence, coincided with my pursuit of psychology). Fire spinning can be technical, performative, mischievous, and scary at times. But ultimately, I fell in love with it because it became a tool for my self-expression.

Psychotherapy is self-expression through the medium of language (“the talking cure"). However, we communicate in many other ways. Through passions and hobbies, we are communicating something about ourselves and our values.

I have worked with all sorts of artists, athletes, tinkerers, collectors, entrepreneurs, animal/plant lovers, gamers.. the list goes on. Whether you are professional or amateur is of little significance. I find that learning about your relationship with your activities of interest reveal important parts of who you are. I try to promote and emphasize a non-judgemental environment so I can truly get to know what you’re about.

…okay, no more about me for now. I am generally friendly and open, but therapy is ultimately about you.