My Journey

My path to becoming a therapist started with a fascination with people: what shapes us, what happens beneath the surface, and why we sometimes find ourselves repeating patterns we know aren't serving us.

I earned my bachelor's degree in Psychology from Chapman University in 2015 and my master's degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Alliant International University in San Diego in 2017.

The first years of my career were spent in community mental health, where I had the privilege of working alongside Latino, Asian, and African immigrant and refugee communities. Those experiences changed the way I understood therapy. I saw how culture, family, migration, trauma, identity, and belonging can shape the way we experience ourselves and the world around us.

They also taught me that there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all approach to healing.

I completed extensive cultural competency training through the Cultural Competency Academy in San Diego and developed a strong foundation in trauma-informed care. I learned to look beyond the presenting problem and ask a deeper question: What happened to you, what shaped you, and what do you need now?

After moving to Houston with my partner, I transitioned into private practice and began working more closely with high-functioning professionals and couples who, from the outside, may look like they have it all together—but internally may be navigating burnout, relationship struggles, questions of identity, or a quiet sense that something isn't quite right.

My curiosity about healing continued to take me deeper, eventually leading me into psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy. I wouldn’t recommend anything to a client that I haven’t tried myself! In 2024, I graduated from the Integrative Psychiatry Institute as a certified psychedelic-assisted therapist.

That work expanded my understanding of what can become possible when we create the right conditions for people to slow down, connect with themselves, and access parts of their experience that may have been difficult to reach through traditional talk therapy alone.

My own journey continues to shape the way I sit with clients today. I don't believe we ever arrive at some final version of ourselves. We keep learning, unlearning, and becoming.

And I think that's a beautiful thing.

My Commitment

Behind so many of the things people bring into therapy—burnout, anxiety, relationship conflict, disconnection, overthinking, feeling stuck—there is usually something deeper asking to be understood.

That's where my work begins.

I'm not interested in simply helping you become better at managing your symptoms while ignoring the story underneath them. I want to understand the whole picture: your history, your relationships, your culture, your body, your beliefs, and the parts of you that have learned certain ways of surviving for very good reasons.

I believe you are the expert on your own life. My role isn't to tell you who you should be or hand you a formula for how to live. I bring the clinical training, curiosity, perspective, and tools; you bring your story.

Together, we'll get curious about what's happening beneath the surface.

Sometimes that means slowing down and noticing what your body is telling you. Sometimes it means understanding an old attachment pattern or getting to know a part of yourself that you've been fighting against. Sometimes it means having the conversation you've been avoiding or looking honestly at the ways you may be contributing to a pattern you want to change.

And sometimes, healing means learning that you don't have to keep carrying something the way you've always carried it.

I want therapy to be a place where you don't have to perform, have the right answers, or make yourself easier to understand. You can show up exactly as you are.

We'll go deep. We'll make space for the hard things. We'll find moments of humor and lightness too. And we'll celebrate the moments when something that once felt confusing finally starts to make sense.

Because insight can create choice.

And choice creates the possibility for something different.

My Training

My clinical foundation is rooted in marriage and family therapy, trauma-informed care, culturally responsive practice, and relational approaches to healing. I believe that effective therapy requires both a strong clinical foundation and a willingness to continue learning as our understanding of the human experience evolves.

My training includes:

• Internal Family Systems (IFS) — helping clients develop greater curiosity, compassion, and connection with the different parts of themselves.

• Attachment-based therapy — exploring how our early relationships and attachment patterns influence the ways we connect, communicate, and experience ourselves and others.

• Somatic therapy — incorporating the wisdom of the body and nervous system into the therapeutic process, particularly when working with trauma and experiences that may be difficult to access through words alone.

• Trauma-informed therapy — creating a therapeutic environment grounded in safety, choice, empowerment, and an understanding of how trauma can shape the mind, body, and relationships.

• Gottman Method Couples Therapy — integrating research-based approaches to help couples strengthen emotional connection, communication, friendship, and relationship resilience.

• Psychobiological Approach to Couples Therapy (PACT) — understanding relationships through the lens of attachment, nervous-system regulation, and the biological and relational dynamics that influence how partners respond to one another.

• Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy — specialized training through the Integrative Psychiatry Institute, where I graduated in 2024 as a certified psychedelic-assisted therapist. My work in this emerging field includes supporting clients through preparation and integration.

I have also pursued continuing education through MAPS (Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies) and Harvard Medical School, further expanding my understanding of psychedelic-assisted therapy, trauma, mindfulness, and the science of healing.

Along the way, I have had the opportunity to learn directly from pioneers and leading voices in the field, including Dr. Rick Doblin, Dr. Ron Siegel, Dr. Gabor Maté, Dr. Rosalind Watts, Wilhelmina De Castro, Dr. Carmen Amezcua, Dr. Dan Fleitman, Yaqui Martínez Robles, Gloria Herrera Prats, and Dr. Bessel van der Kolk.

I believe being a therapist means being a lifelong student. My training gives me the clinical tools and frameworks I draw from, but I remain committed to continuing to learn, grow, and integrate new perspectives so that I can meet each client with curiosity, compassion, and care.