about me

My emphasis is on relatedness - with self, with body and soma, with given and chosen family, with internalized objects and actual people, and with our broader communities.  I am mostly a present-oriented practitioner, by which I mean that I start and return to present experience, working with past experiences as they arise.  Our tasks are to learn what empowers you and what derails you; what is disruptive, and what is soothing for you, and empower you to move between these states.

Personally, I am active in the wilderness, and find being embodied, present, and engaged with nature to be powerful forces for well-being.   I am curious about human felt experience, pertinent science, and the uncertain but palpable forces that abound.  I am increasingly tuned in to the presence and effect of race, otherness, and race and class privilege.

I am an active member of NWAPS, the Northwest Alliance for the Study of Psychoanalysis, having served in leadership on the board of directors, on various committees, as a consultant for NWAPS’ ACPC internship and Clinic, and providing Mentoring Groups for new professionals.  Until recently I have also been a member of the Washington State Society of Clinical Social Workers, and the Washington State Coalition of Mental Health Professionals and Consumers.

In addition to my participation with local professional organizations, I have also recently volunteered in other arenas. These include providing pro bono mental health evaluations as part of legal cases for Asylum seekers through Refugees Northwest; accompanying and supporting hikers in Yellowstone National Park, and facilitating local discussion groups addressing whiteness and racism