"The doors to the world of the wild self are few but precious. If you have a deep scar, that is a door; if you have an old, old story, that is a door. If you love the sky and the water so much that you almost cannot bear it, that is a door. If you yearn for a deeper life, a full life, a sane life, that is a door.”
- Clarissa Pinkola Estés
I am a Filipino-Italian-American, cisgender woman born in the U.S. I grew up in east coast cities in a blended household and have spent much of my life navigating the complexity of liminal spaces. My core is shaped by the bicoastal cities of New York and SF. While I have the pulse of the city in me, I spend most of my days in the wildness of Nature. I am a corporate advertising burnout who deviated from immigrant expectations of success to pursue greater alignment and purpose in my work. I am a devout creative with a relentless curiosity for understanding humanity and our relationship to all things.
My work is informed by decades of studying human behavior through the lens of modern culture, eastern wisdom traditions such as yoga, ayurveda and buddhism and integral psychology.
I am deeply moved to support folx in learning to reclaim their inherent worth and step into empowerment through efforts of decolonization. I am emboldened by the process of unlearning and dismantling deeply held beliefs of what capitalism teaches us to value. I love helping individuals and couples explore intimacy and deeper connection. I believe relationship is one of the greatest teachers.
In addition to being a therapist, I guide yoga and teacher trainings. I offer ayurvedic health counseling and facilitate intentional retreats worldwide. I am also cofounder of ClimbWell, a company dedicated to supporting rock climbers through personal development, mindfulness and holistic wellbeing.
I am a firm believer that too often society forces boxes, labels and identities & so I share all the above in recognition and reverence of the many parts that make up my whole self and the acknowledgment that these parts of fluid and changing. It is my hope to step onto this path with you as your collaborator, your ally and support in holding and integrating all that you are.
Education
MA in Integral Counseling Psychology
California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, CA
Ayurvedic Health Counselor Certification
California College of Ayurveda in Nevada City, CA
BS in Media, Culture & Communication
New York University in New York, NY
Professional Affiliations
California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT)
Yoga Alliance E-RYT 500, YACEP
My approach
I believe the deep work of therapy is integration. It is the compassionate calling back the parts of ourselves once abandoned, disavowed or forgotten. It is the practice of remembering ourselves whole.
My approach is somatic and recognizes embodiment as a necessity for cultivating equanimity. We can know what is “well” in our minds, yet the effort is met with barriers when the body clings to the echoes of past pain and suffering. Thus our work together grows from the foundational understanding that the mind, body and spirit are intricately connected, and the individual is connected to a web of relationships.
The work can be messy, nonlinear and dynamic. Sometimes we begin the process and uncover the hurt that’s been hiding. But rest assured leaning in with the right kind of support attunes you to an aliveness that makes the joy clap like thunder.
My hope is that our work together can help you source your inherent strength, resilience and ability to open to a deeper level of understanding and intimacy with yourself and the world around you. This is the work of empowered change.
What informs my work
My work is trauma-informed and weaves together perspectives from eastern wisdom traditions alongside modern neuroscience & psychology.
Contemporary psychoanalysis
Somatic & body based approaches
Transpersonal psychology
Jungian & archetypal psychology
Gestalt psychology
Neuroscience on attachment
Yoga, Ayurveda, Jyotish & the Vedic Sciences
Vajrayana Buddhism
Feminist theory
Critical race theory
Liberation psychology
Tools for transformation
We are all unique, complex human beings with a diversity of experiences that inform how we move in the world. With that in mind, our sessions look different for each person. We will use a variety of tolls, interventions and methodologies that may include:
Mindfulness techniques, compassion practices & guided visualizaiton
Movement & body based practices such as yoga, acupressure
Expressive art & play therapy
Archetypal exploration
Gestalt & parts work
Internal family systems (IFS)
Dreamwork
Astrology
Ritual
Nature based practices
Coaching & core values exploration
“When you get free from certain fixed concepts of the way the world is, you find it is far more subtle, and far more miraculous, than you thought it was.”
- Alan Watts