Areas of Focus

I have extensive training and experience in, as well as a deep passion for, treating grief, pet loss, and obsessive-compulsive disorder issues among a diverse spectrum of clients.

Nature-based Therapy

“Today I have grown taller from walking with the trees.” Karle Wilson Baker

Nature-based therapy, sometimes known as ecotherapy or green therapy, is the applied practice of integrating a deeper connection with nature and the natural world as part of the healing process. Insight-oriented talk therapy can often be very helpful to a client, but many clinicians have found that assisting clients in developing a greater appreciation for and engagement with nature can also increase emotional well-being.  

Empirical research strongly suggests that increased contact and communion with nature through such practices as gardening, taking nature walks, spending more time in green areas, deepening connection with animals, and reading nature-themed poetry are beneficial to people struggling with relational, emotional, and spiritual difficulties.  Symptoms of stress, anxiety, and depression tend to decrease among people who mindfully cultivate greater presence of natural landscape in their lives, and I look forward to guiding you toward a similar such experience.  

For those interested in this approach, I do not practice nature therapy as a substitute for more traditional psychotherapy, but rather as an integrative piece of the overall therapeutic process. For those uninterested in this approach, I will happily honor your position and focus on providing the treatment you believe would be of greatest help.

Should you opt for a nature-based approach, we would first meet in my office for an initial intake assessment and subsequent sessions would take place both inside and outside my office, including amidst the beautiful landscape of nearby Topanga.  Wherever sessions take place, however, we will work together to come up with the path that’s best for you.

Pet Loss

The bond between humans and their pets — or, as some prefer, pets and their humans — can be both incredibly strong and deeply tender.  When our cat, dog, rabbit, bird, or turtle dies, it can feel not only like losing a pet, but like losing a friend, even a family member.  The pain of a dear pet passing often goes unrecognized in the wider culture, which is why it can be so important to have a safe, supportive, and understanding environment in which to both grieve the death and pay tribute to the departed companion in ways which allow us to heal and move forward while also keeping the beloved pet forever alive in our hearts.