Welcome to my Psychotherapy Practice
I work with men, women, couples and teens to address the challenges and frustraions in their in lives. These include relationships, anxiety (overthinking), depression, anger and trauma, Some of my clients also struggle with a false but deeply held belief that there is something “wrong” with them or that they are undeserving of respect, dignity, and love.
Most of my clients come to my practice because they want to have a better life. They want to feel positive in their relationship with a romantic partner, more satisfied in their work situation or become closer with family members (parents or chldren). They have seen other therapists and left unsatisfied. They are frustrated and angry because they haven't been able to make progress. They face challenges in unequal or unhappy romantic relationships or struggle with social anxiety, or fear that they are “failing at life".
I have made a difference for these clients by offering a direct, warm, and affirming approach and by helping them improve their lives. They have learned to become more self-aware of their thoughts and actions and to take different and more positive steps to achieve their goals. Part of the treatment is to learn more effective ways to communicate and to create positive emotional and sometimes physical boundaries that protect them. An important part of treatment is to understand what brought them to this place so that we can repair any emotional damage that has prevented them from achieving their goals.
I know that a positive and supportive therpeutic relationship can heal and provide understanding and the validation that they did not receive earlier in their lives. My clients learn practical tools to manage anxiety and panic attacks, communication skills to make confrontation a positive experience (not a frightening one), and to build healthier relationships. As confidence and self-awareness grow, many experience deeper connection, reduced trauma symptoms, and a stronger sense of self.
My approach is eclectic and tailored to each client. I integrate elements of evidence-based practices such as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Exposure Therapy, and follow a Humanistic approach to help clients reduce anxiety and trauma, build self-awareness, strengthen boundaries, and create meaningful, lasting change.
Call me for a free consultation at 760-766-1622
What therapy Can Offer
Therapy can offer relief, insight, and real change. It can help you significantly reduce anxiety, anger, fear, trauma, and feelings of helplessness—and support you in creating a life that feels more aligned with who you are and what you want.
It can also deepen your understanding of the challenges that bring you into treatment, such as ADHD, Autism, anger, PTSD, depression, anxiety, trauma, or relationship difficulties. You may feel as though something is fundamentally wrong with you, that you can’t change, or that you don’t deserve to be treated with dignity, respect, and love. These beliefs CAN shift.
Through therapy, you can begin to see yourself more clearly and compassionately. You can learn to offer yourself grace while developing the tools to improve your situation. You don’t have to repeat the past. You can learn to manage ADHD, anger, anxiety, PTSD, and depression. You can build healthier, more supportive relationships, deepen connections, find love, strengthen friendships, and grow in work that feels meaningful to you.
Many people reach a point where they know they want something different. They recognize that they are unhappy or really upset and feel ready for change.
Why not you?
Specialties:
- Couples and Relationship Counseling
- Anxiety, Fear, and Depression
- Trauma, PTSD, c-PTSD and Panic Attacks
- Increasing Self-Awareness: why you do what you do
- Teen and Young Adult Issues
- Grief (loss of a loved one, current or in the past)
- Neurodivergence: ADD, ADHD, Autism and Learning Differences
- Personal and Executive Coaching
Most couples struggle not because they don’t care—but because they’re using communication patterns they learned early in life that simply don’t work.
Real change begins with awareness. When you understand your automatic reactions—especially defensiveness, anger, or shutting down or isolating —you can begin to respond in a healthier, more productive way.
In counseling, you’ll learn how to:
- Communicate without escalating conflict
- Hear feedback without feeling attacked
- Express hurt in a way your partner can actually hear
- Repair emotional wounds instead of letting them grow
Strong relationships aren’t built by avoiding problems—they’re built by working through them together.
When both partners are willing to make small but meaningful changes, the results can be powerful: deeper connection, greater respect, and a renewed sense of being heard and understood.
The process isn’t as difficult as it may seem—but it does require the right tools, guidance, and support.
Would you like to explore how this could work for you?
I provide telehealth services to clients throughout California, allowing you to work from the comfort and privacy of your home or office. I also see clients in my office in La Quinta.
I provide monthly superbills for clients to submit to their PPO insurance carriers for “out-of-network” reimbursement. I accept payment via Zelle and credit cards. I offer sliding-scale fees to help make therapy more accessible. Please note that I am not a Medicare provider.
My background differs from most other therapists.
Before becoming a licensed Marriage anf Family Therapist (LMFT), I spent over 30 years in the corporate world, working in IT, banking, aerospace, manufacturing, marketing, and management. I served as a Director (on the board) of a large credit union, on the boards of three CAMFT chapters in California, served as an Executive Director of a counseling agency and now support and coach new therapists. I have an MBA from UCLA and a BA in Economics.
Information You May Find Useful
FAQ
How often will you come in for sessions?
That’s a good question. I have found that, in this work, just like trying to build strength or improve your golf game, you get better with frequent and regular sessions. That usually means weekly though, at times, there may be a need or desire to come in more often to help you to get through a difficult period.
How long does it take?
This is difficult to predict. I ask clients to give the process at least 12 sessions for the process to start making a difference. You should expect to feel somewhat better in the first 12 weeks and you will begin to notice changes and have more awareness. However, most issues have deeper roots and dealing with those issues takes time.
Do I take insurance?
The answer to that question is complicated based on your situation. Insurance companies require a mental health disorder diagnosis to cover the costs of treatment. Many of my clients prefer to deal with their insurance companies on their own or not to submit my invoice receipts because they want to protect their personal information. There is no way I can guarantee the confidentiality of your personal information once it leaves my office.
I provide a "super-bill" for my services, as an "Out-Of-Network (OON) provider" that you can submit to your insurance company for reimbursement. If you have a PPO medical insurance, your reimbursement may be from 30%-60% of my fee for "out-of-network" providers. If you have an HMO medical plan, there may no reimbursement.
I am not a Medicare provider and you will not be able to bill Medicare to pay for my services.
What are my fees?
The fee for a 50-minute session is $200 for individuals, teens and family sessions. Extended sessions are prorated based on the 50-minute fee.
Couples sessions are scheduled for 75 minutes at a fee of $300.
I offer a sliding scale based on levels of income. (I am not a Medicare provider)
How do you pay me?
I prefer Zelle, credit cards or cash to pay for the session at the beginning of each session unless otherwise agreed to.
How do you reach me if you have to?
The best way to reach me is to call our office voicemail [760-766-1622] and leave a message. I will be notified that you left a message and get back to you as soon as I can. I am not available after 10:00 pm or before 7:00 am. If you have an emergency, you need to call 911 or go to the nearest Emergency Room. When in doubt, please act in your best interests and for your own safety.
How Your Childhood Shapes Every Relationship You’ll Ever Have
Think your childhood is ancient history? The way you were raised is literally running the show in your relationships. How your parents treated you, the amount of love (or lack thereof) you received and even disastrous family dinners all played a lasting role in your life. Let’s see how your childhood subtly controls every relationship you’ll ever have.
Your Parents Taught You How to Love—Or How to Fear It
Were your parents warm, cold, or totally unpredictable? That’s your blueprint for your love life. If your parents were warm and dependable, kudos to you; you probably don’t ghost people. But if love in your household seemed like a roller coaster, then you will have a desire for drama, and when life gets too real, you push people away.
You Might Be Chasing What You Never Got
Some people date partners resembling their parents, while others go for the opposite—desperate to fill a childhood void. You might crave partners who smother you with love if you lack affection. If you had a strict upbringing or if your early life at home lacked love, you might chase love, excitement, and rebellion.
Trust Issues? Look Back at History
Did your parents break promises? Did they keep secrets? Lie? Betray your trust? Trusting humans again will then become unthinkable. Even when your current lover is loyal and truthful, your brain will instinctively bristle with anticipation of disappointment. It’s not paranoia—that’s your early life trauma whispering, “Don’t trust them yet.”
Sibling Rivalries? How You Struggle with Competition in Relationships
Competing for attention growing up? That doesn’t go anywhere. It spills over into your relationships—maybe you feel threatened by your partner’s hot coworker or secretly compete in your friendships. When love felt scarce as a kid, adult relationships can feel like a never-ending battle to be chosen.
Were You the ‘Fixer’ in Your Family? Now You Attract Broken People
If you played a therapy role with your parents or your siblings when you grew up, then most probably, even today, you’re drawn towards healing emotional unavailability in a person. You’re convinced your love can save them—spoiler alert: it doesn’t, and you’re drained out in the bargain.
Childhood Trauma? Now You’re Either Clingy or Distant
If your early life was insecure—perhaps through a dysfunctional family, divorce, or through neglect—this will resonate in your adult relationships. Some become hypercling, fearing abandonment, and others just shut down, not opening up to anyone too closely. Either way, your heart is playing defense based on old wounds.
If You Were a ‘Golden Child’, You’d Have Trouble with Rejection
Loved for being perfect when you’re a kid? Now, rejection wrecks you. You take it too personally, whether it’s a breakup or an unanswered text. Because your whole life, identity, existence, everything, was about being loved— so when someone doesn’t pick you, it feels like failure.
If You Were the ‘Independent’ One, Now You Struggle to Rely on Others
Were you the one who handled everything yourself? That most likely translated into your life when you grew up. You struggle with asking for help, even when you desperately require it. Your relationships suffer because you think needing someone makes you weak. (Spoiler: It doesn’t.)
If Your Parents Had a Toxic Marriage, You Might Be Scared of Getting Married
Growin’ up and seeing your parents’ perpetual fighting like it was a sport? You can become drawn to high-intensity, abusive relationships. Or you might just be scared ever to get married because you think it is the reality of every marriage. That healthy, secure relationship? That can sound suspiciously too peaceful.
If You Were Constantly Criticized, Now You Struggle to Accept Love
The critical parents? Today, any kind word makes you suspicious. You’re preparing yourself for criticism; when a person likes you, you’re just waiting for them to change their mind. That voice in your head whispering, “You’re not good enough”? That’s your inner child speaking.
Boundaries? You Learned Them as a Kid
If your family respected your space and opinions, then odds are, healthy boundaries in relationships have been your norm. But if you grew up with no privacy or were told to “just go along with it,” then setting boundaries might feel uncomfortable to you—even when you desperately need them.
If Your Family Avoided Emotions, You Might Be Dating a ‘Talker’
Did you grow up in a house where feelings were awkward? You might find yourself accidentally attracted to partners who won’t stop talking about emotions. They force you to open up, while you sit there wondering why they need to discuss every tiny feeling they have.
Your Childhood Friendships Shaped How You Handle Conflict
If your friendships during childhood included a lot of drama, you could repeat that same behavior in your adult relationships—giving silent treatments, passive-aggressive messages, shutting down, and not discussing an issue.
If You Were a ‘People Pleaser’ as a Kid, You Still Struggle to Say No
Did making your parents happy feel like a full-time job? Now, saying no to everyone feels wrong. You overextend yourself, avoid conflict, and let people walk all over you. On a deep level, you’re scared that when you stop pleasing everyone, they will leave.
Your Childhood Role Affects Who You Attract
Were you a peacemaker? The golden child? The rebel? A caretaker? The role you played in your family often determines the type of partners you attract. Caregivers attract fixer-uppers, peacemakers go for security, and golden children look for constant approval. It’s all connected.
How Your Childhood Shapes Every Relationship You’ll Ever Have
Think your childhood is ancient history? The way yo were raised is literally running the show in your relationships. How your parents treated you, the amount of love (or lack thereof) you received and even disastrous family dinners all played a lasting rold in your life. Let’s see how your childhood subtly controls every relationship you’ll ever have.
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