Clinical Social Work
Practice Areas/Specialties
Mindful Psychology
Mindful psychology centers on paying attention to thoughts, emotions, and bodily sensations with equal importance. Being aware and accepting, rather than reacting automatically or trying to suppress discomfort. Mindfulness is used to help people: Notice internal experiences more clearly; Interrupt autopilot reactions; Respond with more freedom instead of habitual patterns; Reduce rumination, anxiety, and stress; Notice internal experiences more clearly; Interrupt autopilot reactions; Respond with more freedom instead of habitual patterns; Reduce rumination, anxiety, and stress
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy
Certified Through Marsha Linehan
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) is skill-building combining Cognitive Behavioral Therapy with Mindfulness to find the Middle Path. Strongly associated with the Buddhist Path, it addresses Emotional Regulation, Distress Tolerance, Interpersonal effectiveness, mindfulness and walking the middle path (yin and yang). It's effective for all populations including leadership in companies to substance abuse treatment.
Internal Family Systems
Certified through Frank Anderson (contributor to Pixar's movie "Inside Out")
If you are interested in Internal Family Systems (IFS), please watch "Inside Out" from Pixar. I was trained by Frank Anderson who consulted on the movie. Otherwise, IFS is a way of understand yourself in parts (named by emotions and family roles).
Polyvagal Healing Trauma
Certification with Deb Dana
PolyvaPolyvagal Therapy is an approach grounded in Stephen Porges’ Polyvagal Theory, which discusses how the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) or Limbic System shapes emotional regulation, social connection, and trauma responses. It’s a cornerstone for trauma informed and somatic therapies because it reframes “fight, flight, freeze” not as pathology but as adaptive states of the nervous system seeking safety.
Hip Hop Therapy
Certified HYPE Facilitator with Dr. Dia (Dr. Adia McClellan Winfrey)
Collaborator with Hip Hop Therapy Practitioner Dr. Edgar Tyson
Hip Hop Therapy is a culturally responsive mental health approach that uses hip hop culture — music, lyric writing, storytelling, spoken word, and performance — as tools for healing, emotional expression, and identity development. It is used to help underserved communities process trauma, depression, anxiety, grief, and identity challenges.
Thematic Analysis of Hip-Hop Music: Can Hip-Hop in Therapy Facilitate Empathic Connections when Working with Clients in Urban Settings (Tyson & Kobin, 2006)
Accredited Clinical Supervisor LCSW
Oregon BLSW Online License Search (click only supervisors)
Accredited Clinical Supervisor LCSW - A clinical supervisor can assist CSW receive personal and group credits towards their Licensure. I specifically work with clinicians who are interested in Neurodiversity and Mental Health.
Systems Approach
When we examine the foundations of our colonialist culture (Either-Or Thinking, Competitive Thinking. Rugged Individualism, A Sense of Urgency, Fear of Open Conflict (Niceness vs. Kindness), Paternalism (Structural hierarchy), Perfectionism, Belief in One Right Way) we can see how all humans struggle from conscious or unconscious systemic trauma. Emerging research shows that inequity, loneliness, and rugged individualism are responsible for the United States rating #1 in world mental health problems.
Part of my practice is to undo these systems by starting from the inside-out.
By doing this work in therapy, together we can be the change we wish to see in the world (Mahatma Gandhi).
Case Management and Care Coordination
Simply Put, Case Management is resource navigation. Care Coordination is system navigation. Ensuring foundational needs of Maslow’s Hierarchy are met in order to get clients to go from surviving to thriving.
Culturally Linguistic and Specific Services (CLSS)
OHA has accredited me as a Culturally Linguistic and Specific Services (CLSS) provider - this is granted by OHA to LCSWs who have demonstrated a strong, documented history of providing culturally relevant services. My focus is on ethnic minorities and individuals with neurodiversity. The goal is to ensure that clients receive trauma informed care that is relevant, safe, and responsive to their cultural identity and lived experience.
EMDR Techniques
Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) is a structured therapy that uses bilateral stimulation to help the brain reprocess traumatic memories. The idea is not to erase the memory — but to uncouple it from the overwhelming emotional and physiological charge.
Trauma gets “stuck” when the nervous system can’t fully process it. EMDR helps the brain finish what it couldn’t complete at the time. I do not utilize the structured 8 phases, but pieces of this treatment to move through trauma somatically.
Neurodiversity - DBT Specialized
Specialized application of DBT for individuals with cognitive disabilities. I have worked with Dr. Julie Brown on this friendly approach to treatment geared towards neurodiversity, ADHD, ASD, and other Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.
Animal Assisted Intervention
Over the years my intuitive pets have assisted with in-person therapy, and they often join me for online sessions. Having a fuzzy creature next to you in your healing journey is both reassuring and somatically healing, as well as something to help you co-regulate your nervous system. Dr. Melvin leads you into the office and sits on you, while Dr. Fizzgig can predict seizures.
Generational Trauma Through a Jewish Lens
Judaism is both an ethnicity and a culture. As a Jewish Woman and the daughter of a first generational immigrant, I have lived the life of an only child of a family traumatized by the effects of growing up in Germany as well as escaping Eastern Europe during the war. As a community member, I identify as someone who has a self deprecating sense of humor, endless neuroses, and am obsessed with sales. While these may sound like stereotypical traits, many Jews share an experience that creates a special bond or "member of the tribe" feel when looking for a therapist.