Welcome! I am proudly the Clinical Director for the incredibly talented Reproductive Mental Health and Wellness team. I have had the privilege of working most of my clinical career in the field of Medical Social Work in both adult and pediatric hospital institutions in San Diego, California. In this work I walked alongside families during some of their most difficult trials of grief, loss, trauma, unexpected illness, complex diagnoses, abuse, and also joys of successes in healing. What has become profoundly evident to me in this career is how much of a role hope and support can change the trajectory of a family’s process no matter what they are facing. I have witnessed and also personally felt just how unfair life can seem, particularly in the realm of things beyond our control. Mental health therapy along with an empathetic care support team have allowed for some incredible healing processes to occur in the individuals and families I have served. On a personal level, mental health therapy has also been vital to my success as a clinician, mother, wife, daughter and friend. My own experiences with significant postpartum depression and anxiety have shaped my life and clinical work. With all my being, I truly believe that therapy can be the vehicle that lifts you and moves your trajectory through and forward. I have been incredibly honored to have been able to shift my career towards providing therapy and honing my years of work in the medical setting to being able to better support families as they go through their perinatal journey. My passions have also shifted to management with both a desire to nurture, support and develop clinicians in the field, constantly craving systems improvement to serve our community to its fullest potential. I learned an incredible amount navigating systems and supporting clinicians in my role of leadership in a hospital during the pandemic. I found that immensely challenging and rewarding, but realized I missed being able to focus on the perinatal population that I had worked with in a previous institution. I was thrilled to discover an opportunity to join Reproductive Mental Health and Wellness team as Clinical Director. The RMHW team has a passion and dedication to serve families in their perinatal journey that matches my own, and I am able to utilize both my clinical skills and leadership skills in one dynamic setting.

In my moments outside of the work setting, I love to be hanging out with my husband, three children (one is a rainbow baby), two dogs, a cat and three chickens. Crafting, cooking, sunshine and playing outside with plants fill up my cup. My laugh can be ridiculously loud and I am told it is often and easy to come by.