A little about me and my clinical practice: I am a licensed, independent, clinical social worker. I earned my Master’s in Social Work from Simmons College in 2013, and have advanced training in the treatment of developmental trauma, issues related to substance use and gender and sexual identity development. I care deeply about exploring how race, culture, class, gender and other sociopolitical constructs impact individual and community identity development, mental health, wellness, and a sense of belonging in the world.

My clinical practice is grounded in harm reduction psychotherapy, liberation healing and innovations in trauma-informed care; and I prioritize therapeutic interventions that support people in recognizing, honoring and building upon their internal resilience. I am deeply committed to meeting people where they are, and to approaching conversations with curiosity, compassion and humility. As a person who utilizes therapy myself, I understand the courage required to investigate suffering with a stranger – in addition to the power that connection and community contribute to the ability to heal and to thrive.

My philosophical orientation has been shaped through previous work in a variety of settings within Greater Boston, including the Cambridge Hospital, Healthcare for the Homeless, AIDS Action Committee, and most recently as the Interim Director of Counseling at Massachusetts College of Art and Design.

My areas of specialty include: Internal Family Systems therapy, Harm Reduction Psychotherapy, Liberation Psychology, Motivational Interviewing, and the multicontextual treatment of trauma and dissociation, specializing in the clinical application of Polyvagal theory

You can also find more about me and my practice on PsychologyToday

When I’m not working, you’ll find me: reading Jeannette Winterson, Roxanne Gay, Zadi Smith, and other feminist authors, hitting the open road, exploring new places, new food, new languages and ideas, being silly with my partner or friends, turning up my music really loud, and using photography to come back to the present moment.

A snap-shot of who I am in relation to my environment, living and working in the U.S.

A brief note: some of these identities are fixed. Some are evolving as I learn and grow. Some elements are within my influence and others are not. My relationship to my environment is shifting and changing as I understand myself, the cultures I live-in; as laws are created and taken-away, and as people in my life grow and pass-away. Some details of my life are not (yet) known to me, while others will never be known to me in this lifetime.

In addition to my inner-life (thoughts, feelings, emotions, beliefs, sensation), these “social conditions” inform my life, and my work. In my work, I will bring curiosity, compassion and a not-knowing mind to aspects of your inner-life AND social locations that are both shared and different between us. 

We are complex, multifaceted beings: one of many species on this earth at this moment in time. Our inner-life and the social conditions we are navigating and vote-for hugely inform our wellbeing. All of it is true at the same time.