Psychotherapy:

I am a Clinical Psychologist licensed by the California Board of Psychology (license no. PSY12162).

Specialties include:

• Family relations
  
• Communication issues
  
• Parenting and co-parenting
  
• Amicable dissolutions
  
• Life transitions
  
• Lesbian & Gay community
  
• Services in Spanish/Servicios de psicoterapia en español
  
  

• Individual psychotherapy -You may find yourself in therapy for the first time. Or, you may have tried many times, but still feel stuck in thoughts or behaviors that are not working for you. Together, we can explore family and other life patterns that might be constraining you more than you are aware of.
  
• Couples therapy - I have worked extensively with lesbian, gay and heterosexual couples. Couples therapy can help you to communicate more clearly and productively, to understand the dynamics that can create unsatisfying patterns, and to increase good will and resiliency in your relationship.
  
• Family therapy - Sometimes seeking help from a trained professional together with your loved ones is the most beneficial way to unlock difficult patterns of interaction. I have worked with a variety of family groups including parents and their young or adolescent children; siblings; and adults and their parents or other extended family members.

I am fluent in Spanish for those who need monolingual Spanish or bilingual sessions.

Mediation:

• Divorce and dissolution in a cooperative process
• Co-parenting plans and custody agreements
• Pre-nuptials and pre-partnership agreements
• Collaborative law and mediation coaching
• Family financial disputes
• Employer-employee conflicts
  
  

Having been trained as a mediator and collaborative law coach, I have mediated many disputes, most commonly with couples in the process of separation who are seeking an amicable, cooperative resolution of their conflicts regarding care of their children, division of property, and other charged issues. In addition, I have worked with lesbian or gay couples who often prefer mediation over legal intervention in order to forge their own agreements and avoid costly adversarial battles in the legal system.

I am a member of “Equally Empowered,” a group of Bay Area attorneys, mediators and therapists working to explore ways of helping clients — particularly lesbian and gay -- through the complicated legal and emotional tasks of family formation and dissolution, including partnership, marriage, co-parenting, separation and divorce. It is our belief that a mutually satisfactory and respectful process that takes into account the interests of all parties can pave the way for a successful and cooperative future of working together.

My services include:

• mediation or mediation coaching
• collaborative law coaching
• guidance on family formation
• co-parenting agreements
• pre-nuptials and pre-partnership agreements
• adoption counseling
• pre-marital and pre-partnership counseling
• dissolution, separation or divorce coaching
• custody, parenting plans, and visitation agreements
• financial agreements
  
  

My background in systems theory and child development informs my work with families undergoing transitions in the family life cycle. Trained in both Collaborative Law and in Mediation, I can provide knowledgeable and sensitive guidance to help people work together to make agreements.

Continuing Education and Training:

I am licensed by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences (lic. No. 2830) to provide continuing education for MFTs and LCSWs. I have also taught Family Therapy Theory and Technique to psychiatry residents and psychology interns at the Department of Psychiatry at California Pacific Medical Center for the past eight years. Previous academic affiliations have included CSPP and New College of California Graduate Psychology Department. Classes and workshops I have developed and taught include:

• Psychotherapy Theory and Technique
• Family Therapy Theory and Technique
• Lesbian and Gay Couples and Families
• HIV Family Issues
• Couples Therapy
• Lesbian and Gay Parenting

Consultation:

I am available for supervision and consultation for clinicians working toward licensure as well as for licensed mental health professionals. Additionally, I provide consultation to attorneys interested in discussing mental health issues regarding their clients. Please contact me to discuss your consultation needs.