I've wanted to be a therapist since I was a little girl. Having grown up with multiple ethnic backgrounds (Mexican, Caucasian, Native American) while living on the border between two countries (US & Mexico), I’ve struggled to feel like I belong, and have had to work hard to have pride in all of my identities. As such, I have become adept at metaphorically walking between worlds, seeing from multiple perspectives, and creating bridges between people and ideas. I believe I was put on this planet to bridge worlds, to be a guide for those traversing the liminal spaces between dreaming & waking, psychedelic & mundane, ancient & modern, Indigenous & Western.

In 2019, I completed CIIS’s Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy & Research program, in anticipation of the expected legalization of Psilocybin and MDMA for psychotherapeutic use in the very near future. I provide preparation and integration for clients interested in using psychedelics for healing. I like to use a very grounded type of therapy that’s informed by Somatic Therapy and Internal Family Systems (IFS).

I also supervise Associate MFTs at Alchemy Therapy, a sliding scale clinic that offers psychotherapy and psychedelic-assisted therapy (as it becomes legal) to underserved communities in the Bay Area.

I’m cisgender, heterosexual, and neurodivergent, and I operate from a neurodiversity paradigm, which is a perspective that boils down to these fundamental principles (from Dr. Nick Walker):

1. Neurodiversity is a natural and valuable form of human diversity.

2. The idea that there is one “normal” or “healthy” type of brain or mind, or one “right” style of neurocognitive functioning, is a culturally constructed fiction, no more valid (and no more conducive to a healthy society or to the overall well-being of humanity) than the idea that there is one “normal” or “right” ethnicity, gender, or culture.

3. The social dynamics that manifest in regard to neurodiversity are similar to the social dynamics that manifest in regard to other forms of human diversity (e.g., diversity of ethnicity, gender, or culture). These dynamics include the dynamics of social power inequalities, and also the dynamics by which diversity, when embraced, acts as a source of creative potential.

EMDR

I am trained in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), a technique that utilizes bilateral stimulation to process difficult memories in a new way. I encountered EMDR during my first week of college, and was so blown away by the power of it that I decided to dedicate my career to it. I learned that the only way to practice EMDR is as a licensed clinician, so I began the 11-year journey to becoming a licensed clinician.

Repeated studies show that with a few sessions of EMDR therapy, clients can experience the benefits that can otherwise take years of talk therapy. To learn more about this specialized trauma therapy technique, read my EMDR page.