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 use mind-body and emotion-focused approaches that explore the connection between emotional experience, nervous system regulation, and chronic pain. This includes somatic interventions woven into therapy to support reconnection with the body, particularly when someone feels numb, disconnected, or distant from physical and emotional experience. These approaches help strengthen awareness of internal sensations and support nervous system regulation. They also inform the treatment of trauma-related symptoms, including fear-based responses that may become held in the body, as described in Pain Reprocessing Therapy (PRT) and Emotion Awareness and Expression Therapy (EAET).

My approach also incorporates Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) to help integrate conflicting internal experiences and build skills for emotional regulation, distress tolerance, and resilience during difficult emotional states.

When helpful, I draw from Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) to support awareness of thought patterns, shift unhelpful cognitive cycles, and strengthen practical coping strategies that align with treatment goals. This integrative approach allows for flexibility in tailoring care to each person’s needs and experience.

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.