Meet your therapist
I am a bisexual/queer femme (she & they), seventh-generation Pennsylvania-Deutsch (German), working class person, who grew up as a Third Culture Kid (TCK) and Cross-Culture Kid (CCK) hybrid, having lived in North-Eastern China and the Navajo Nation in New Mexico among other places, from the age of five. As an adult, I am happy to call the Bay Area my home. Outside of my work as a psychotherapist, I enjoy spending time with my partner and our two cats, practicing yoga, and trying to keep up with my Mandarin Chinese.
My cross-cultural upbringing and natural inclination to want to get to know people have prepared me well for a career in psychotherapy. I work particularly well with individuals who experiences themselves as outside of the norm, or as an outsider within a social group, or are navigating an experience that makes them feel like they are different from everyone else. In our work, it’s important for you to know that I genuinely want to understand you, I encourage you to be fully present, and I am capable of supporting your experience.
My somatic approach to psychotherapy, integrates Formative Psychology, Psychobiological Approach to Couples Therapy and Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy as my primary frameworks. I earned my clinical MA degree in Somatic Psychotherapy from the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS) in San Francisco in 2020 and received my clinical training at the Center for Somatic Psychotherapy and via clinical supervision of supervisors who specialized in Formative Psychology.
I am currently a PhD Candidate in Integral, Transpersonal, and Somatic Psychology (ITPS) at CIIS where I am conducting an attachment-based embodied research study on Adult TCKs as part of my doctoral dissertation.
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LGBTQ+ Centered Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFCT) Core Skills (Level 2) with Robert Allan, PhD, LMFT and Sandra Taylor, PhD, LMFT
September 2025 thru March 2026 (in progress)
LGBTQ+ Centered Emotionally Focused Couples Therapy (EFCT) Externship (Level 1) with Robert Allan, PhD, LMFT and Sandra Taylor, PhD, LMFT
June 2025
Formative Psychology Professional Consultation with Christina Loeffel, LMFT
July 2024 – present (ongoing)
Formative Psychology Practice Group with Christina Loeffel, LMFT
June 2019 – March 2025
PACT Couples Consultation Group with Patricia Hart, PhD, LMFT
September 2023 - May 2025
Conversations in Formative Psychology® International Class with Leila Cohn, PhD
March 2021 – August 2024
Psychobiological Approach to Couples Therapy (PACT), Level 2
August-November 2023
Psychobiological Approach to Couples Therapy (PACT), Level 1
January - April 2023
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Center for Mindful Psychotherapy (CMP), January 2021 - August 2024
Associate Marriage and Family Therapist (AMFT)
Supervised by Christina Loeffel, LMFT with specialized focus in Individuals
Supervised by Aaron Hagaman, LMFT with specialized focus in Couples and Adolescents
San Rafael High School (SRHS) Wellness Center, August 2022 - June 2023
Associate Marriage and Family Therapist (AMFT)
Supervised by Judy Schwerin, LMFT
Center for Somatic Psychotherapy (CSP), September 2019 - December 2020
Trainee Intern & Associate Marriage and Family Therapist (AMFT)
Supervised by Christina Loeffel, LMFT
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California Institute of Integral Studies
San Francisco, California
August 2020 - Current
PhD Candidate in Integral, Transpersonal, and Somatic Psychology (ITPS)
Research study in progress
California Institute of Integral Studies
San Francisco, California
August 2017 - August 2020
MA in Counseling Psychology with an emphasis in Somatic Psychotherapy
Bennington College
Bennington, Vermont
August 2009 - July 2013
BLA in Liberal Arts & Mandarin Chinese
Self-designed liberal arts major in verbal and nonverbal communication, with a focus in Mandarin Chinese
Middlebury College Chinese Language School
Middlebury, Vermont
June 2012-August 2012
Certificate in Mandarin Chinese, Level 2.5
International School at Xiamen University
Xiamen, Fujian Province, China
August 2011-January 2012
Certificate in Mandarin Chinese, Level 2
Learn more about my practice, here: