Adoption is an ongoing process in which bonding between child and parent(s) takes place over time. I help facilitate the two-way attachment between the child and the parent(s) by adoption, while helping the child understand and develop a narrative of where they came from.
Common Concerns
Adoption
Anxiety
Understanding where fears come from can help us feel greater mastery over them. If the fears are initially overwhelming, therapy can help you manage feelings until a greater sense of control is developed.
Behavioral issues
Children with behavioral issues are usually attempting to communicate something about their internal state or environment. Getting to the bottom of what a child is struggling with (school fit, sensory issues, social problems, learning disabilities, depression, anxiety, academic stress, health issues, or family problems), and addressing the problem in tandem with play or talk therapy, can help the child feel good again. Children who feel good behave well.
Depression
Psychotherapy can help lift the hopelessness of depression so that you can begin to reinvest in all that makes life meaningful again.
Grief and loss
All of us have to mourn the loss of important people, marriages, career dreams, or beliefs about how our life would ideally go. Taking time to remember the good and bad, the ups and downs, can help open unexpected new paths to acceptance and stability.
Family stress
All families have challenges. Talking to a professional outside of your immediate circle can bring fresh perspectives on, and new possibilities about, how we see each other and interact.
Learning disabilities
In conjunction with neuropsychologists, occupational therapists, schools, and/or educational therapists, I can help a child or teen manage the anxiety, sadness, school or social stress, and self-esteem issues that can be the fallout of a learning disability.
Life transitions
Growing up, starting college, finding the right career path, changing careers, being part of a family, going through a divorce, losing important relationships or people, and learning to be an adult or parent are extremely hard. Drawing on my background in human development, I can help you, your family, or your child gain the confidence and skills needed to meet life’s challenges.
Relationships
Sometimes old habits can get in the way of having the kind of human connection we long for. I can help you recognize and help change patterns that no longer work for you.
Trauma
When there’s a traumatic event in someone’s life, whether childhood abuse and neglect, a family history of genocide, or sexual violence, it is important for you to set the pace for revisiting past pain.
My Approach
“If only we can wait, the patient arrives at understanding creatively and with immense joy… The principle is that it is the patient and only the patient who has the answers.” —D.W. Winnicott
Whether I’m working with adults, teens, or children, I show a deep curiosity toward my client as we discover our shared goals for the therapeutic relationship. Having lived and worked abroad, I am interested in culture, language, and power, and how these forces shape our ideas about others, ourselves, and our desires.
Adults
As adults, we all have old ways of relating that can keep us from feeling fulfilled in work and love. As I work with you, we’ll explore these patterns, aim to heal old pains, and consider new choices about life.
Parents
Parenting is the toughest job out there; I offer support and suggestions to help parents navigate the exciting and sometimes turbulent waters of raising an autonomous child. Psychotherapy works best when the therapist, family, and school work together for the benefit of the child. I help families assess whether a child will be best served by individual psychotherapy, or if issues can be addressed through parenting work and referrals to other specialists.
Teens
Teens often need help initiating psychotherapy. Humor, concern, and attentiveness go a long way toward helping your teen begin to articulate struggles, successes, and worries. Some teens still like to play games as they enter the therapeutic relationship. I have found that once trust is established, teens make wonderful use of talk therapy.
Children
Children use play to symbolize and express their internal worlds. Through play therapy, a child can feel understood, and can begin to imagine other ways of relating to the world with the help of gentle guidance.
About Me
I’m a licensed psychologist (PSY 26860) in private practice in Oakland, California. While completing my doctorate in psychology at the Wright Institute in Berkeley, I worked at a number of social service agencies. I provided school-based play therapy in both English and Spanish; facilitated groups for adolescents whose caregivers had been diagnosed with cancer; offered individual psychotherapy for adults; and worked with children in the foster care system. I then did an intensive two-year internship at the Ann Martin Center, where I specialized in working with children, adolescents, and their parents. It was there that I was grounded in psychodynamic and neuropsychological approaches to understanding children, adolescents, and families. After completing my internship, I worked in private practice under the supervision of a contemporary psychoanalyst.
Before pursuing my doctorate, I received a BA in women’s studies from Mills College and an MA in English studies from the University of Pittsburgh. I spent several years living in Ecuador, where I directed a program of volunteer English teachers and worked as national director at a youth employment program for underserved adolescents.
Resources
24-Hour Crisis Support
Crisis Support Services of Alameda County
www.crisissupport.org
1-800-309-2131
Nationwide Hotline
1-800-273-TALK
Parental Stress Hotline
415-441-KIDS (5437)
Domestic Violence
National Domestic Violence Hotline
1-800-799-SAFE-799
Alameda County Family Justice Center
510-267-8800-SAFE
Rape
Bay Area Women Against Rape
510-845-7273
Grief & Illness
Circle of Care, East Bay Agency for Children
510-531-7551
Housing & Health
Eden I&R 24-Hour Line
2-1-1
Contact Me
Address
5309 College Avenue
Oakland, CA 94618
Phone
510 910 1364