Of course you're exhausted.

A woman with long brown hair sitting cross-legged in a forest, knitting with beige yarn, smiling at the camera.

You are carrying so much: concern for your family - by birth or found - trying to do your job well, guilt that you aren't talking to your friends enough, trying to be a better partner or learn to date in a sustainable way, horror at the world and all its inequity.

And underneath all that, the quiet (or not so quiet) soundtrack:

"Am I annoying or too much? Did that interaction go badly? Am I working out enough? Where is all this going??"

Whew.

It's a lot to hold. So with me, right here, let's exhale.

And yeah - I know that setting it down is terrifying. We can go slow.

No one is angry with you, boo

A woman sitting on the grass near the ocean, holding a small bouquet of flowers with a rock formation in the background at sunset, smiling at the camera.

You aren't a terrible person either. The world is messy and so are humans. Maybe you don't like how you're showing up lately. Or maybe you're holding it together but feel like you're about to lose your mind. Either way, I've got you.

You want change, I get that. This process often asks you to slow down and breathe. The part of you that is used to trying hard and pushing through is going to want to optimize and rush through therapy too. There is no A+ in therapy - instead, you'll learn to give yourself a gold star.

Over time, you'll learn to be gentle with your mind. Get curious. Interrogate the rules you have internalized. Try new experiences and take leaps, especially when it's scary. Treat all these parts with love.

Then one day you'll wake up and realize you have more room to breathe. You don't worry so much about how much space you're taking up. You feel more confident and safe and sturdy. You respond calmly when things go wrong. And you'll know that this was worth it.

Let's hold it, together.

White knuckling it isn't working for you anymore

This isn’t just theory for me

Woman sitting on a tree trunk in a forest, writing in a notebook.

I know these patterns intimately - I've lived the self-scrutiny and masking and exhaustion. I continue to work on unpacking my own whiteness, internalized misogyny, and deconstructing diet culture. It is hard work to slow down, be kinder, and find another way. I don't talk about my story much in session, but you'll know it when I sit with you in your darkest thoughts without flinching.

When you forget your own progress, I'll be there to remind you of how far you've come.

Abstract design with wavy shapes in various shades of pink, brown, and black.

Okay but like, how does a session with you feel?

I don't have an agenda so we'll start with what's alive for you. I might ask questions or run what I'm hearing by you: how does that land is a favorite of mine. You will always be the expert on yourself, but I can help you make sense of what's happening and give you frameworks to work with patterns differently.

I use metaphors A LOT - they turn something heavy and painful into something lighter, more absurd, less powerful. I also laugh with my clients frequently. I'll always take you seriously, but we don't have to take every thought seriously.

Finally, I promise I won't let you off the hook. I want to be a warm, nurturing presence in your life and I also want to help you grow and look at hard things. If I think I'm seeing a pattern, I will name it - with compassion and courage.

Ready to get started? Set up a call

A woman with long, brown hair, wearing a mustard-colored knit sweater, sitting on a beige couch with a pillow. She has a gentle smile and is clasping her hands. The background shows a gray wall with artwork and a white side table.

"Hey — that thing you say you hate doing... is it in the room with us now?"

— HOW I’LL CALL YOU IN

The turning points for me

This is laughable now, but 17-year-old Rachel was convinced she was in a quarter life crisis because she no longer had her entire life planned out. I remember telling my therapist that I wish I could just have conversations like this every day and he just tilted his head and said "what do you think I'm doing right now?" In that moment, being a therapist was a real possibility and I never looked back.

A woman standing on a waterfront promenade with a large suspension bridge illuminated in the background during dusk. Her reflection is visible in a puddle on the ground.

Other moments shaped the kind of therapist I am now. I learned ACT (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy) as an undergraduate in a research study. I hated it at first. I'm not my thoughts? Accept my feelings? I'm pretty sure fuck this entered my mind. Then I practiced it more and found some of that space to breathe and once again, didn't look back.

Then as a licensed therapist, I had another turning point. I found myself between two worlds and uncertain of how to blend them: I was trained behaviorally but wanted to be with my clients in a very real way. I was lucky to have mentors and trainers who taught me how to be focused, strategic, and goal-oriented while present, alive, and attuned. This includes asking questions to shift your perspective, naming what you haven't been able to articulate yet, and noticing when the thing you do out there is actually happening with me in here.

Explore my method more

The practical stuff

I see clients in person in downtown Oakland, in the FiDi in SF, and via telehealth anywhere in California and New York. I work primarily with individual adults - I am beginning to add couples to my practice so reach out and we can talk about fit.

Sessions tend to be around 50 minutes. My fee is $225, though I do have sliding scale spots available. If fee is a barrier, mention it when you reach out and we'll figure out what's workable.

Licensed in California (LCSW 90887) and New York (#092873)

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