About Me
I am glad you have found my website, and I am pleased to give you a short summary of my work experience and interests. I am a licensed psychotherapist working with individuals, couples, children, teens and families, and I have been in private practice in California since 1986 in West Los Angeles. With over 20 years experience as a marriage, child and family therapist, and as a graduate of Nova University, I am currently serving as a private practitioner working with a broad spectrum of clients. I have worked with people of all age ranges starting at age 5 and continuing through the senior years. I have worked intensely on issues concerning marital/couple relationship conflict, family difficulties, teen and young children who are suffering from everything from behavior management issues, to drugs/alcohol abuse, bullying, depression, anxiety, social isolation and loneliness, eating and weight problems, low self esteem, divorce effects, sibling rivalry, bedtime and other sleep issues, etc... I have also worked with adults who are having difficulty in their personal or work relationships, feeling stuck in their careers, or lack of career, having difficulty finding the right relationship, are involved in a substance abuse issue, have gender or sexuality issues, anger management problems, grief and loss experiences, along with other self esteem, communication, parenting concerns, or general depression and anxiety .
I am a very interactive therapist who believes that first and foremost, the most important part of therapy starts with finding the right therapist for you. Therapy is a very personal experience and needs to be tailored to each individual client based on their personal needs and goals. You should feel during the first session that our meeting provided you with an opportunity to be heard and understood. If you don't feel that connection in the first session, you might want to interview another therapist. I don't expect that you will necessarily have a "light bulb" moment during the session, but if you don't think I got what your were saying and was able to address your concerns in a way that made you feel that your concerns were acknowledged and understood, then perhaps we are not the right fit. I am happy to give you names of other colleagues who might genuinely be more helpful than myself. So, please let me know if you would like a referral from me. Truly, my feelings won't be hurt. I know I cannot be the therapist for all the people, all the time.
My therapeutic approach is to provide support and practical feedback to help clients effectively address personal life challenges. I integrate complementary methodologies and techniques to offer a highly personalized approach tailored to each one of my clients. With compassion and understanding, I work with each individual to help you build on your strengths and attain the personal growth that you are committed to accomplishing. I am solution focused, but I also would like to spend some time over the first few weeks getting to know and understand your background. I feel it is important to understand how we got to where we are today so that we can use that knowledge to plan on where we want to go tomorrow. Understanding the human plight, and how it has effected us personally, gives each one of us knowledge. Knowledge is what empowers us to make the changes that will take us down the road we want to travel, rather than repeating the same patterns over and over that haven’t been working for us. We have all been greatly imprinted upon by our parents and the generations before us. Therapy is not about blaming, but rather about understanding and learning to gain an awareness of what effects the world and our families have provided for us.
I believe being human is, at best, a tough assignment. We have become more and more complicated over the generations, and our society itself has become even more and more challenging. I feel all humans are struggling to live well. Some, obviously more than others. All of us will encounter a host of challenges throughout our lifetimes. If we can find a way to explore our situations and our needs and become more aware of who we are in this experience that we are living, I believe our lives and our relationships can greatly improve with the awareness that one can gain through a great therapeutic experience.
I know that I am very effective in helping many people identify the issues that need to be brought to the surface and to offer understanding, support and guidance in sorting though the challenges.
License: California licensed psychotherapist (1986)
License #MFC21459 Professional Membership:CAMFT (California Association Marriage Family Therapists)