Therapeutic Services
amft. MAsters in Counseling Psychology. specialty in . . . . . 
combines psychology and the creative process to promote emotional growth and healing
I support clients in their desire to strengthen their mental health by using the arts to help them make meaning amidst pain, experience the release of strong emotions, and develop an empowered sense of identity. I provide a non-judgmental space of solace while offering appropriately challenging opportunities for clients to grow.
My approach to therapy is trauma-informed, tailoring interventions in the context of the client’s personal history and specific needs. My work is built on the premise that people grow through and toward connection throughout their lifespan, so I strive for a therapeutic alliance built on trust. I aim towards cultural competency and humility in my work, with an intention to address the repercussions of social injustice on mental health.
01 Visual Arts
02 Language Arts
03 Music/Sound
04 Dance/Movement
05 Dramatic Arts
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EXA Therapy combines psychology and the creative process to promote emotional growth and healing. It is an integrative approach that utilizes multiple forms of creative expression through a trans-modal process including writing, music, visual arts, drama, and dance/movement. This approach enables connection between both hemispheres of the brain, as well as the regions that support regulation.
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Art comes from a deep emotional place within you, hence, creative endeavors will enable you to undergo a profound process of self-discovery and understanding. Some benefits include: developing strengths and skills, personal growth, symptom reduction, improved communication, and making meaning of personal experiences.
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You don’t need to identify as an artist. You don’t need to have any prior experience in art. You don’t even need to be confident in your artistic abilities.
All you need is to be open, interested, and willing to try!
The therapeutic work is based on the creative process, not on the final result therefore most anyone can benefit from EXA Therapy. Throughout the process, you learn new and different ways to use the mostly nonverbal language of creativity to communicate inner feelings that were not previously available to you by simply thinking or talking about them.
31 Panoramic Way, Ste. 202
Walnut Creek, CA. 94595
currently full, not accepting new clients
Hours
Monday–Thursday
11am–7pm
Phone
925-489-2658
Approaches & Orientation
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A practice that seeks to minimize the risk of retraumatization or replication of prior trauma dynamics and provides hope for recovery.
Safety: Create a calm and comfortable space
Choice: provide client options in their treatment
Empowerment: Notice strengths and capabilities
Collaboration: Make decisions together, fostering trauma-resistant skills
Trustworthiness: Provide clear and consistent information
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The focus is on the client’s capacity for their own self-growth as active self-healers. The therapist creates a climate conducive to self-exploration through unconditional positive regard, honesty, and empathy. Person-Centered Therapy approaches challenge the assumption that “the therapist knows best” and instead relies on the idea that clients are the experts of their own lives.
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An approach to therapy that specifically targets those thoughts, feelings, communications, behaviors, and interpersonal exchanges that clients have learned either to suppress and avoid or to amplify and overemphasize because of early attachment experiences.
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An approach that is centered on justice, peace, testimony, and sustainability by helping clients make sense of and respond to the world around them. It challenges the psychological principle that psychological problems are primarily based in the individual as opposed to a reasonable reaction to societal trauma. Both historical and ongoing acts of violence and discrimination impact a person’s self-perception. The approach helps clients explore emotions such as anger, grief, and loss in the context of systemic oppression, with the goal to foster the development of effective coping strategies and resilience in the face of these challenges.