My work is grounded in extensive experience supporting people with disabilities, chronic illness, and chronic pain across all stages of life and functioning, including navigating education, employment, relationships, and complex systems of care. Before becoming an associate psychotherapist, I worked as a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC), helping individuals with disabilities work toward vocational goals, independence, and meaningful participation in their communities.

I am also bilingual in English and Spanish, and have had the privilege of supporting monolingual Spanish-speaking parents and youth, multicultural families, individuals involved in the legal system, and those experiencing significant mental health challenges. This background, along with my clinical training and lived experience, informs a therapeutic approach rooted in resilience, accessibility, connection, and empowerment.

Integrative psychotherapy

I incorporate mind-body pain and emotion-focused approaches that address the interplay between emotional experience, nervous system regulation, and chronic pain or trauma-related symptoms, including fear-based responses held in the body as understood in Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) and Emotional Awareness and Expression Therapy (EAET). My approach also integrates by dialectical behavioral therapy (DBT), supporting the integration of opposing experiences and building skills for emotional regulation and resilience in the presence of distress.

With over 20 years of lived experience with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), I bring a deeply personal understanding of the stigma, barriers, and isolation that can accompany living with a disability, chronic illness, and pain. I understand how difficult it can be to find a therapist who truly relates to your experience, and how meaningful it can feel when you don’t have to translate or justify your reality. This shared understanding can support a stronger therapeutic connection, helping create a space where you feel more seen, less alone, and better able to focus on your goals for healing, stability, and change.

My work is grounded in empathy, respect, and inclusivity, with a deep commitment to serving the disability and chronic illness community and centering disability justice in therapy. My approach is trauma-informed, anti-ableist, LGBTQIA+ affirming, culturally responsive, and strengths-based, with an emphasis on honoring each person’s lived experience and access needs.

In our work together, you will never be told to “push through,” “just think positive,” or “try harder.” Instead, you will be met with compassion, realism, and respect for what you are navigating—at a pace that supports your capacity and well-being.