Santa Rosa Therapy and Counseling

It’s the framework of how I help clients with their goals. It’s part therapy and part coaching in how I apply it in my practice.

This therapy that helps individuals stop struggling with difficult thoughts and feelings, and instead accept them, while committing to actions that improve their lives.

In Act therapy, we learn how to respond differently to difficult thoughts and feelings so you can lead your life with your values, not your worries, insecurities, and stressors.

It is skills-based and behavioral, meaning you start doing things right away and there are activities and reflections in between sessions to implement what you learn.

The goal in ACT therapy is psychological flexibility which helps:

• Being proactive in dealing with your problems rather than reactive

• Improving resiliency

• Nurturing self-compassion.

• Keeps you striving towards goals despite setbacks

• Adapting your behaviors to align with personal values, even during stressful times

• I am a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in the state of California (LMFT #97770)

• I have been a therapist for over 12 years and have been licensed for 9 years.

• I have my Master’s of Arts (M.A.) Degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling and my Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Psychology

• Advanced training in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) and extensive clinical experience in medical, community, and academic settings.

• I specialize in helping high-functioning individuals navigate complex relationship dynamics, anxiety, and emotional overwhelm with a clear, actionable approach.

My model of therapy requires weekly therapy, 50-minute sessions once a week. Once we decide it’s a good fit for your goals (first 1-2 sessions are on trial basis), then we set aside a weekly consistent time for both of us to reserve to do the work together.

I offer both in-person therapy in Santa Rosa, CA in my office off of Mendocino or video/phone therapy.

While every person’s therapy duration is unique, my former clients who report they have fully met their therapy goals, on average, typically do so in about 25 sessions, or approximately a little under 6 months of weekly therapy.

The type of ACT therapy I provide in my practice is a good fit if you’re someone who:

• is thoughtful, self-aware, and maybe even “good at insight” but still stuck

• has tried to think your way out of things, but it hasn’t fully worked

• wants something practical, not just talking in circles or just venting

• is open to trying a different way of relating to your inner experience

A lot of people I work with have spent years trying to:

• control their thoughts

• get rid of anxiety or their negative thoughts

• “figure themselves out”

And they’re exhausted.

This work isn’t about trying harder.

It’s about helping you step out of that struggle, so you can actually live your life instead of constantly managing your mind.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is a well-researched, evidence-based approach that has been shown in multiple clinical studies and meta-analyses to be effective across a wide range of concerns:

• Anxiety Disorders (generalized anxiety, social anxiety disorder, panic disorders, OCD, and health anxiety)

• Depression or feeling disconnected from life

• Burnout and work-related stress

• Feeling stuck, unmotivated, or “on autopilot”

• Big reactions to small things (emotional reactivity)

• Ongoing patterns like avoidance, procrastination, or self-doubt

I was first introduced to ACT many years ago during my clinical training internship, when I was working with adolescents with chronic and persistent eating disorders. I was really struck by how much relief it provided clients to realize they didn’t have to get rid of all their thoughts and feelings around food or their bodies in order to move forward in recovery.

Ever since that time, I’ve wanted to learn more about this approach and how it could help other populations of people.

I find ACT to be a non-shaming, normalizing, and a very compassionate approach. It feels like the opposite of a harsher, pathologizing traditional medical model of mental health that sees our distressing thoughts and feelings as “abnormal” or something that needs to be diagnosed and fixed- assuming that the natural state of being human is to be without them. That just hasn’t been true in my experience. We all have difficult thoughts and feelings.

I also find that focusing only on symptom reduction (just minimizing symptoms as the main marker of success in therapy) can be a pretty low standard, and often short-lived.

In ACT, we’re aiming for something deeper: helping you build a fulfilling and meaningful life.

To me, that’s a much more worthwhile place to put our time and energy.