Psychologist, California Licensed Psychologist (License# PSY17495)
Hello, and thank you for taking the time to consider working with me as your therapist. I appreciate the importance of finding a good match. I hope that the following information will help you know more about me and the care I provide so you can begin to consider if I would be most helpful to you.
One thing that distinguishes me as a clinician is the level and quality of training and experience I was fortunate to receive. I hold a Ph.D. from the APA Accredited Counseling Psychology Training Program at the University of Texas at Austin, an M.A. in Developmental Psychology from Teachers College - Columbia University, and a B.A. in Psychology from the University of California at Santa Cruz. As part of my doctoral training I completed a full-time year-long pre-doctoral internship at the Jerry L. Pettis Memorial VA Medical Center in Loma Linda, California, where I received intensive supervised experience in a variety of areas. I went on to become a licensed California Psychologist, a credential I still maintain. Most recently I also added to that becoming a Singapore Registered Psychologist as well.
Throughout my professional life I have held a variety of positions in both the private sector as well as governmental agencies, but the majority of my career has been in private practice. For a number of years I ran a group practice in Orange County, California, in which I provided a lot of direct clinical care, as well as supervising developing clinicians, and overseeing the overall operation of the group. During that time, I also taught Psychology at U.C. Irvine and served as the Chair of the Professional Practice Committee and as a Board Member for the Orange County Psychological Association. During those years, I provided a variety of types of therapy to a range of clients, and developed a range of areas of expertise.
With over 20 years of experience as a Psychologist, I have come to realize that the best therapy involves more than just teaching of skills, though of course a great deal of teaching takes place. In this way, I have moved away from cookie cutter approaches that try to treat everyone the same. Of course, as needed I am able to connect my clients with workbooks and other materials that help them learn to learn useful strategies like Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, various enrichment programs for couples, and the like. However, in my view these resources are used to support the true work of therapy, which in my experience involves a particular type of relationship - one that is focused on helping each individual to embrace the life he or she truly wants and supporting that person in taking the steps necessary in manifesting that life. In this way, at it's core, the best therapy is individualized rather than standardized. Unfortunately, this type of care is becoming increasingly uncommon. Instead, because of variety of societal pressures, including those of managed care, the emphasis in mental health is toward having therapists apply standardized treatment protocols aimed at promptly reducing symptoms rather than empowering such things as self-actualization. These types of therapies do have value, and they allow clinicians of various levels of training and skill to have some positive impact, often in ways that are highly cost effective. That said, my practice focuses on caring for people who seek personalized care, aimed not just at relieving symptoms but rather on empowering people to claim their lives. If this is what you seek, I would honored to assist you in claiming your life, bringing your reality in line with how you would ideally like things to be. I have spent years in honing the skills necessary to provide this care, and my most sincere commitment is to make such therapy available to discerning clientele who value such a personalized approach.
24 Years Experience
