A bit about me…

My specialties highlight two identities I’ve held in my life. From a young age, faith has been important to me. I have relied on prayer to move through tough times. As I’ve grown, I am learning what it is to have greater intimacy with God.

One of my favorite hymns is In the Garden where it says “and he walks with me and he talks with me, and he tells me I am his own.” I believe in the power of prayer in every situation, no matter how small, no matter how big. I wholeheartedly believe that God’s presence is in our marriages and our intimacy, in our healing. One promise we know is that God will never leave us. He is always with us. 

In our work together, I will be praying for you. I will be listening for the Spirit to speak. I may use Scripture that jumps out to me and I am constantly turning to God for discernment and wisdom. This doesn’t mean I will always get it right, but I believe in God’s imminent presence as we gather together.

Chronic Pain

When I was 18, I broke my back in a freak climbing accident in the High Sierras. I was helicoptered to the hospital and had spinal fusion surgery. I had fractured five ribs and four vertebrae. After wearing a back brace for two months post-op, I was able to do most of the things I loved again. However, I developed chronic back pain. Pain that brought me to tears on many instances. Pain that limited daily decisions. Pain that added a huge mental load. 

When I was in my graduate program at USC, my professor, Alan Gordon, was in the midst of conducting a back pain study. Pain Reprocessing Therapy became an evidence-based practice after that study– proving that neuroplastic pain can be healed through psychotherapy. After confirming with Dr. Schubiner that I didn’t have any structural damage after my spinal fusion surgery, I began to heal as well. 

I was not looking for this work, this work found me. From my own healing journey to being a part of so many others, I care deeply about how bodies and brains rejuvenate as we work on beliefs, predictions, and somatic observations. I have seen so many patients go from being bedridden and afraid, to traveling the world again.

Finally, I am a wife and mother of three kids. I am part of a vibrant church community in Pasadena, California, and am so grateful to be close to the mountains and the ocean.