Qualifications & Experience

I completed my undergraduate studies at Biola University in La Mirada, majoring in theological and biblical studies. I finished my Master’s degree at Wheaton College in Illinois, majoring in Clinical Mental Health Counseling. From there I completed my clinical hours working with families, couples, adults, and adolescents at Timberline Knolls Residential Treatment Center and I currently am licensed as an LPCC in California. In addition, I have completed continuing education units in trauma competency, eating disorders, DBT, and mood disorders.

My Call to Christian Counseling

I decided to pursue counseling when I did volunteer work with families and individuals in downtown Los Angeles as I was earning my undergraduate degree.

More About Me/On a Personal Note

I enjoy being outdoors, including hiking, biking, running, exploring, and traveling. I appreciate art, decorating, and music. I also believe physical well-being, including self-care and fitness, is an important aspect in holistic healing.

Areas of Expertise/Specialties

• Abandonment and Neglect
• Anger Management
• Anxiety
• Bipolar Disorder
• Chemical Dependency
• Coaching
• Counseling for Teens
• Couples Counseling
• Codependency
• Depression
• Eating Disorders
• Family Counseling
• Grief and Loss
• Group Counseling
• Individual Counseling
• Infidelity and Affairs
• Marriage Counseling
• Men’s Issues
• OCD
• Online Counseling
• Personal Development
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
• Premarital Counseling
• Professional Development
• Relationship Issues
• Sex and Porn Addiction
• Sexual Abuse
• Spiritual Development
• Trauma
• Weight Loss
• Women’s Issues

Anxiety

Anxiety is just a clinical word for fear. A key component to healing is identifying how these root fears developed. When we have lived in a state of fear for a prolonged time due to our experiences, our minds learn to operate at a baseline of internal panic, resulting in the physical and emotional symptoms of anxiety. To change a baseline of unrest, it requires reshaping the stories we tell ourselves, challenging our cognitive distortions, and incorporating practical grounding skills into our daily lives. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is an essential tool in mitigating anxiety while finding how to foster consistency and stability in daily life.

Trauma

Unhealed wounds from our past can result in crippling fear and shame, robbing us of our sense of identity, control, and safety. Trauma poisons our body, mind, and spirit. To reclaim what was taken from us, the process begins with learning how to share our story while integrating practical techniques to regulate our nervous system, with the additional goal of making meaning from the events in our lives and returning to a baseline of internal safety. In sessions, narrative therapy integrating a strength-based approach is a starting place for healing from trauma.

Couples Counseling

The unhealed parts of ourselves frequently show up in the form of conflict in our romantic relationships. Often, points of contention stem from unhelpful patterns learned from childhood and attachment wounds. When our insecurities, fears, and inability to internally regulate manifest in the dynamic with another person, it can lead to resentment, shame, and anxiety, making it difficult to navigate tension and healthily respond to a partner. Reshaping attachment styles, externalizing problems, identifying core fears, and challenging current thinking patterns that contribute to defensiveness, avoidance, and anger are integral parts of couples counseling, with an end goal of defining what a secure and safe relationship means and learning to put that definition into practice, with God’s guidance.

Depression

Depression often leads to feelings of paralysis and defeat. Experiencing prolonged hopelessness and helplessness can affect us physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Identifying the underlying causes of the emotional experience is the first step towards relief from the heaviness. Exploring core beliefs and the impact of loss is a starting place for alleviating symptoms. In addition, integrating Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) can reduce experiences of powerlessness and hopelessness while providing practical tools to combat symptoms.

Eating Disorders

An eating disorder can be all-consuming, both for an individual as well as a family. In the process of recovery, it is essential to determine core beliefs and fears that contributed to the current symptoms as well as to identify the function or purpose the eating disorder serves. Redefining your value and relationship with food as well as a combination of Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT), supplemented with nutritional counseling, provides practical healing for the mind and body.

Availability (by office location):

• Irvine – Tuesdays
• Online Counseling – Tuesdays

Fees: I offer a Risk-Free Initial Session for individuals, couples, and groups looking to pursue counseling with me. Please note that there is a fee for the Risk-Free Initial Session as it is a clinical hour and reimbursable to most insurance companies, but if you choose not to reschedule and continue therapy after the initial session the entire fee for the session will be waived. For ongoing treatment the full fee per session is required at the time of service.

Insurance: As a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor (LPCC), most insurance companies will reimburse for a portion of my services (as an Out of Network Provider). Please consult with your insurance provider as to whether they specifically cover adolescents, individuals and couples.

Receipts/Statements: In the event you require a printed or digital receipt, I will provide receipts for personal use, insurance reimbursement, Flex Spending Accounts (FSA), and Health Savings Accounts (HSA).

Payment options: Cash, Check, or Credit Card (Visa, MasterCard, Discover, & American Express).