Qualifications & Experience

I hold Ph.D. and Master of Arts degrees in Clinical Psychology, both from the American Psychological Association accredited California School of Professional Psychology at Alliant University San Diego. My Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with a Social Work Minor is from Texas Tech University.

My 30+ years of clinical work includes ongoing training in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, as well as a strong background in mood disorders treatment, health counseling, multicultural counseling, vocational guidance, and career mentorship. I also offer tailored, evidence-based treatment for anxiety, stress, and pain management, including personalized relaxation protocols and biofeedback-informed approaches. These enhance skill building and help clients to discover their most effective strategies.

I have worked with adults from many life stages. However, I have specialized experience supporting young adults contemplating career and life pathways, and providing resilience-focused guidance to older adults negotiating life transitions. I am deeply committed to culturally aware care, shaped in part by my leadership of the NIH-funded MADURA program at UC San Diego, where I mentored students from underrepresented backgrounds to pursue aging research and neuroscience careers.

In addition to direct therapy services, I developed and led mental health programs in both inpatient and outpatient settings. Training and supervising therapists has encouraged me to stay current on psychological advances and broadened my exposure to diverse client needs.

Finally, I bring advanced training in psychological assessment for adults, along with extensive experience using mood and cognitive screening tools.

As needed, I will draw upon any of these skills as we work together.

My Call to Christian Counseling

Inspiration comes in many forms. For me, it was sparked by 1970s T.V. shows and movies that featured psychologists. These characters were often caring and smart, and the therapy process seemed like a fascinating way to help people! A junior high after-school psychology club sealed the deal. I was intrigued by the quest to understand human behavior and alleviate suffering through the study of psychology, before I even started high school.

As a college student, I learned that clinical psychology can prepare us for many exciting roles. In addition to therapy and counseling, clinical psychologists engage in extensive training in diagnosis, assessment (testing), and many types of research. They often become skilled trainers and educators, too. I have always loved variety and the challenge of applying learning and research findings to real life. I obtained my BA, MA, and PhD in Clinical Psychology, and continue to love all of these professional activities.

More About Me/On a Personal Note

Despite disgruntled knees, I carve out time to play doubles tennis 3-4 times each week. It offers me the perfect blend of physical, mental, and social elements. My family and I also love the mountains, especially creekside camping or day hiking under tall pines and granite peaks. This rejuvenates my spirits and awakens awe in God’s creation! Now that my twins are busy in college, my Beagle/Lab mix pup and Senegal parrot also demand more exercise and attention from me. There’s also always a new recipe or gardening task calling my name, and when I need a change of scenery, my husband and I love hearing live blues, jazz, or rock music. With all of these great options, I never seem to get bored!

Areas of Expertise/Specialties

• Abandonment and Neglect
• ADHD
• Aging and Geriatric Issues
• Anger Management Anxiety
• Bipolar Disorder
• Chemical Dependency
• Codependency
• Depression
• Grief and Loss
• Health Counseling (Diet, physical activity, weight loss, sleep hygiene, medication and treatment compliance)
• Individual Counseling
• OCD
• Personal Development
• Premarital Counseling
• Professional Development
• Psychological Testing
• Relationship Issues
• Weight Loss
• Women’s Issues

Aging and Geriatric Issues

I have had the privilege of conducting home therapy visits to older adults at assisted living communities and private homes. Older adults are as diverse as the rest of our population, but the focus was frequently on adapting constructively to life transitions. Some of these have been predicted, such as retirement, moving into a new environment or having family move far away. Others have been unpredictable, such as personal illnesses, injuries and physical declines, deaths of friends or loved ones, unforeseen financial problems, and the loneliness that often accompanies many of these events.

My approach will vary based upon your situation and personality, but always begins with a thorough discussion of how the current issues impact you. This will be followed by working to grow insights into the ways that various actions and ways of thinking impact your mood, health, and coping. We will partner to test out new thoughts and behaviors, evaluating the results over time and zeroing in on the approaches that best enhance your wellbeing.

Anxiety, Depression, Bipolar Disorder and other Mood Disorders

As a Cognitive Behavioral therapist, I want to thoroughly understand your distress and your therapy goals. Based upon strong evidence from decades of psychological research, we will then work together to clarify how your thoughts, actions, and mood impact each other. We will plan practical ways for you to change thoughts and actions that interfere with your mood, undermine constructive functioning, and decrease quality of life.

For example, depressed individuals tend to focus far more on negative thoughts than positive, and often suffer from lethargy and withdraw from social interaction. If you are depressed, I will help you shift your thoughts to be more realistic and constructive. We will jointly set goals for you to rebuild energy through practical activities like good nutrition and time outside, gently increasing activity such as short daily walks with a friend or family member, and/or re-starting hobbies that you used to enjoy.

If you are a client facing overwhelming anxiety, we will grow your ability to manage anxiety-provoking situations by building success one small step at a time. We will counterbalance this challenge with improved anxiety coping skills and daily relaxation exercises. These might include deep breathing techniques, stretching or physical activity, and prayerful meditation.

For all types of mood disorders, we will continually evaluate your unique responses and adapt approaches to maximize your benefits. When you are satisfied with your progress, we will prepare you to maintain improved mood and function over the long term.

Personal and Professional Development

A wise counselor is a blessing, and some clients want to walk with a trusted advisor in the absence of distress. Some aspire to improve their lives, insight or character. If you are one of these ambitious individuals, we will define your current top goals. Perhaps you want to be a better listener, contribute to society or building God’s kingdom, or improve relationships. Perhaps you are feeling unsatisfied at work or lost after retirement.

Our approach will vary depending upon your goals, but we will be guided by valuable psychological models. For example, the intuitive Stages of Change (Transtheoretical) model will guide us in identifying your readiness to make desired improvements and how to tackle these in sustainable stepwise fashion. If you have career or vocational goals, I will draw upon vocational assessment and advising experience. For those seeking a better sense of purpose, we will jointly explore your personal values and priorities. Frequently, these have changed over the course of our lives, but we have not yet aligned today’s actions with heartfelt, newly evolving priorities. For these kinds of developmental work, I may serve either as a long-term advisor or as a temporary counselor until you reach defined goals. I am happy to assist in either scenario.

Health and Healthspan Counseling

We all know that our earthly bodies are temporary and that we are likely to face health challenges. If you seek help to adjust to physical changes or to prevent or manage chronic conditions, some psychological approaches have proven to be highly beneficial. If you are working to change dietary habits to prevent diabetes, heart disease, or cancers, desiring better sleep, managing chronic pain, preparing to terminate weight loss medications, or simply striving for healthy longevity, we can define your personal goals and the strategies shown to be effective.

We will use SMART goal-setting strategies and develop plans for you to track progress and sustain motivation. We will build upon your successes, gradually integrating more challenging goals and new skills, as a foundation for sustainable long-term improvements. This approach is valuable for many types of health behaviors, such as increasing physical activity, making diet changes, reducing sedentary time, stopping smoking, monitoring blood glucose, reducing or eliminating alcohol use, and complying with difficult physical therapy or other medical treatments. In addition to actively working on your health goals, we will integrate mindfulness and relaxation skills that support your functioning and quality of life.

Sessions: I offer 53-minute sessions. Sessions can be held more than once per week, weekly, or every other week. Scheduling options are discussed in greater detail during your Risk-Free Initial Session. Frequency will be determined by clinical needs as well as preference.

Availability (by office location):

• Carlsbad – Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday

Fees: I offer a Risk-Free Initial Session for individuals looking to pursue counseling with me. Please note that there is a fee for the Risk-Free Initial Session as it is a clinical hour and reimbursable by most insurance companies. If you choose not to reschedule and continue therapy after the initial session, the entire fee for the session will be waived. For ongoing treatment, the full fee per session is required at the time of service.

Insurance: As a California Licensed Clinical Psychologist, most insurance companies will reimburse for a portion of my services as an Out-of-Network Provider. Please consult with your insurance provider as to whether they will cover my services.

Receipts/Statements: I will provide digital or printed receipts for personal use, insurance reimbursement, Flex Spending Accounts (FSA), and Health Savings Accounts (HSA) documentation.

Payment options: Cash, Check, or Credit Card (Visa, MasterCard, Discover, & American Express). A fee of up to 4% per transaction may be added for credit card payments.