Education

I graduated in 1988 from the University of California, Santa Cruz Phi Beta Kappa, with College Honors, and Highest Honors in the Major for my Bachelors Degree in Psychology.  My mentors at U.C.S.C. were Elliot Aronson, the social psychologist, and G. William Domhoff, the sociologist, psychologist, and dream researcher.  I received my M.S.W. in Clinical Social Work from Smith College School for Social Work in 1993. While attending Smith, I received one of the two Patricia Roberts Harris Awards given to students in my class. In 2001, I completed the first year of the Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Program through the Institute of Contemporary Psychoanalysis, San Francisco Extension.

In 2010, I completed the requirements to be a Facilitator/Trainer on the Pyramid Model for Supporting Social Emotional Competence in Infants and Young Children with the Center on the Social and Emotional Foundations for Early Learning (CSEFEL).  I returned to Smith College School for Social Work for their certificate program in Advanced Contemplative Practice, which I completed in April 2012.

Claire Allphin, clinical social worker/Jungian analyst/scholar on the clinical supervisory process, has been my psychotherapy mentor since 1996.

My work is also influenced by the philosophy and practice of Aikido, an art that I have trained in for many years. (See flyer for The Confluence of Therapy and Aikido: An Experiential Workshop.)

In February 2022, I completed the 100-hour MAPS MDMA Therapy Training Program.  I am currently in the process of gaining the clinical experience and meeting the consultation requirements to become a MAPS-Certified MDMA-Assisted Therapy Practitioner.  

Professional

Prior to beginning my graduate studies, I worked at a residential treatment facility for children/adolescents with severe emotional/psychological difficulties, several special-education settings, a group home, a juvenile detention center, a short-term acute inpatient psychiatric hospital for adults, and a long-term acute psychiatric hospital for adults.

After graduating with my M.S.W. in Clinical Social Work from Smith College School for Social Work in 1993, I worked as a clinician for two, non-profit agencies, a group home for girls/adolescents, and Santa Cruz County Children’s Mental Health. I became a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) in 1996 through the California Board of Behavioral Sciences, and started my private psychotherapy/consulting practice soon afterwards. In 1998, I became a Board Certified Diplomate (BCD) in Clinical Social Work with the American Board of Examiners in Clinical Social Work. I developed an early-intervention/consultation program for children and their teachers/caregivers at state-subsidized pre-schools and childcare centers in 2010. In 2011-2012, I was a Field-Trial Clinician for the depression and anxiety sections of the DSM V.

I facilitate the Santa Cruz County Prostate Cancer Support Group for the Katz Cancer Resource Center.

I am one of the Resiliance in Medicine Program therapists serving local physicians.  This program is sponsored by Physicians for a Healthy Central Coast Foundation and the Santa Cruz County Medical Society.

I am part of the MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy Team at the Luminous Healing Center in Santa Cruz.