I believe in a strength-based, holistic, and pragmatic approach to change that focuses on each client's unique needs; and I view life's challenges as opportunities to further growth and build a more meaningful life. In active collaboration with a client, my technique balances insight, exploration, and coping-skills development that helps clients affect real change in the present.

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In a safe and caring environment, I offer a flexible and personalized approach, drawing from psychodynamic, cognitive behavioral, and mindfulness-based modalities (and Buddhist philosophy); as well as the LiveWell Program®: a psychoeducational model that empowers people to better manage their own moods. As a social worker therapist, I also explore one's unique cultural and environmental/systemic influences as a way to gain insight and affect change. I've trained and worked with a diverse range of people of all ages and issues including depression, anxiety, substance use, trauma, relationship difficulties, life transitions (such as divorce or menopause), and physician/health care provider mental health.

I hold a Masters degree from the Graduate School of Social Work and Social Research at Bryn Mawr College, with an emphasis on trauma-informed practice.  I trained and provided individual therapy to diverse adults at University of Pennsylvania's Outpatient Psychiatry Department, as well as on the dual-diagnosis in-patient unit at Friends Hospital to people with acute mental health issues and substance use disorders. In addition to being trained at the Beck Institute in using CBT for depression and suicidality, I am also a Certified Peer Specialist and a mental health writer.  I am the Founder and Executive Director of the LiveWell Foundation.

My priority as a therapist is to create a safe and non-judgmental space for clients to be heard, understood, and accepted. As a social worker therapist, I am especially interested in supporting clients through their process of knowing themselves within their unique familial, cultural, and systemic contexts. I enjoy the process of learning and growing alongside my clients.

I specialize in healing trauma through connection and belonging. I frequently work with people who are navigating systemic barriers, adjusting to new and uncertain chapters in life, and seeking to feel their feelings without being consumed or overwhelmed by them. My therapeutic approach is informed by psychodynamic, relational, strengths-based, somatic, and trauma-informed modalities including DBT and the LiveWell Program®: a behavioral health model that teaches clients skills for managing their own ongoing mental health self care. 

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I am a White, multicultural (proficient in Spanish), queer, cis woman in an interracial relationship. I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and currently work as a staff clinician at Tuttleman Counseling Services for Temple University students pursuing graduate studies in the Health Sciences. I earned my Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry at Haverford College and my Master of Social Services from Bryn Mawr College, and received clinical training at University of Pennsylvania's Outpatient Psychiatry Department. I was trained to be a volunteer LiveWell Foundation peer facilitator in 2018, and later served as the LiveWell Foundation's Director of Programs and Operations. I continue to integrate the LiveWell Program® into my clinical work, and frequently refer my clients to this supportive community of peers.

I have been providing individual, couples, and family therapy to people of all ages and backgrounds as a licensed clinical social worker for almost twenty years. In addition to currently serving as the founding therapist at Positive Change for Teens and Families, I am also thrilled to be the clinical supervisor of the LiveWell therapy team.

My approach to counseling is based on my belief in the strength people already have and draw from. With effective guidance and support, I believe in the power of both youth and families to make and sustain positive and lasting change. 

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I received a Master of Social Work degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1997 and Clinical License in 2006. My career path has included working four years as a Child Advocate representing abused and neglected children and adolescents in family court to assure that all of their physical, emotional, and educational needs were met. There, I learned the importance of collaboration with schools, healthcare providers, youth service agencies, hospitals, and families in assuring the optimal coordination and care outcomes for youth. From 2001 to 2014, I worked as a Clinical Social Worker at the Adolescent Care Center at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), where I provided psychosocial assessment, crisis intervention, individual, partner, sexual health and family counseling to teens, couples and families. My role at CHOP also included supervising Master’s level clinicians working towards professional licensure.