Bio

I bring to my practice over 20 years of training and experience in the education and treatment of children and families. I have specialties in childhood development, parental adjustment, and adolescent mental health.

I am a clinical psychologist licensed in California since 2001.  I currently treat adolescents and adults in my private practice, providing individual, couples, and family treatment.  My training and experience has been in the treatment of children, adults, and families, using play therapy, individual “talk” therapy, and family therapy. From 2001 to 2006 I worked on the Child and Family team at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in San Francisco. I developed a specialty in the treatment of adolescents and founded the Adolescent Eating Disorder Program for Kaiser, San Francisco serving as its Director through 2006. 

A graduate of Brandeis University, I earned my Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology.  My early focus on child development and the role of the family led to my interest in young children and in the difficulties that can arise later in adolescence. Prior to becoming a psychologist, I spent 4 years teaching school aged children with special needs. The majority of my students were diagnosed with autism. After witnessing the profound stress related to raising a child with autism, I made this the topic of my doctoral dissertation. I obtained my doctorate in 2000 from the California School of Professional Psychology in the San Francisco bay area.  I completed my pre-doctoral internship at the California Pacific Medical Center and my post-doctoral fellowship at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Oakland.

My clinical work focuses on helping people cope with anxiety, depression, eating disorders, relationship problems, trauma, ADHD, and disorders on the autistic spectrum.  I often work with new mothers as they learn to cope with the changes in their lives and to understand how best to meet the needs of their infants and toddlers. I frequently consult with the parents of teenagers, helping them to understand the internal world of an adolescent and how best to help them thrive.

Advertisement