A Licensed Clinical Social worker (also known as a LCSW), otherwise known as a Therapist, is someone who has completed a four year bachelor's degree from a university, a master's degree in social work, over 3,000 hours of advanced training and supervision, and passed the law and ethics exam and the national exam for the California Board of Behavioral Sciences. LCSW's are required to complete annual training to keep their knowledge current with the latest research in mental health. LCSW's are trained in biological, sociological and psychological understanding of people from a micro/mezzo/macro lens.  

LCSW's are able to diagnose and treat a variety of mental health conditions. LCSW's are not prescribers and do not prescribe medication. We are only able to provide talk therapy.

At this time I am currently available to have sessions on Monday's, Saturday's and Sunday's. 

I will make every effort to schedule your appointment within one to two weeks of your initial phone consultation if I have the availability. 

At this time I am working with individual clients who are 18 and older. If you are using Medi-Cal insurnace, you must be at least 21 years or older. 

Individual session are 50 minutes. Extended sessions are available and are offered at either 75 minutes or 90 minutes for an additional fee. I offer individual mini-therapy sessions at 30 minutes for a reduced fee. I offer crisis sessions (detailed below in my fees) at 75 minutes.

Individual sessions are offered in person at the San Diego office location in Mission Valley or via telehealth. 

This is something we will decide together in a collaborative effort. 

I like to recommend having sessions on a weekly basis, as this way we can build a deeper therapeutic relationship which will help you to achieve your goals a little sooner. As we are making progress together, we will then begin to titrate down to having sessions every 2-4 weeks.

However, I understand if this is not financially feasbile, I am happy for us to meet together to make decisions about what your best treatment may look like. 

We will make these decisions together in a collaborative style based on your needs. 

I provide therapy on a short-term basis while using cognitive behavioral therapy or solution-focused therapy, and/or if an individual is going through a crisis. This short-term process may take anywhere from 5-10 sessions. This type of therapy will help to reduce the intensity of a individual's symptoms who might be going through an emotional, mental, physical and/or behavioral crisis. We will be focusing on improving your functioning by implementing new and healthy coping skills, while also eliminating ineffective ways of coping. 

I also provide long-term therapy in which treatment can last for many months or years depending on what is needed. 

As far as when your treatment will end, this is something we will decide together. 

Helping you find the right therapist is as important for you as it is to me. This is why I offer a free phone consultation before we have our first session. This consultation will allow you to ask me any questions you may have, how I conduct therapy sessions, and how I can help meet your needs. This consultation will also allow me to get to know you so I can make sure that I have the proper training and experience to meet your needs. If we both feel we might be a good fit for one another, we can then go ahead and schedule your first session. 

Sometimes it can take a few sessions to develop a relationship with a therapist to make sure it is the right one, and because of this, I often like to check-in with patients to see how our sessions are going. My goal is to provide the best therapy to you and if we feel after a few sessions that someone else may be a better fit, I will be more than happy to reach out to provide a referral to someone else. After all, I do want you to look forward to our sesions together!

Yes. I provide video therapy through an online, secure video conferencing platform. Video therapy can be beneficial for those who cannot find a therapist in their area with my specialties or for those who prefer to chat with me in the comfort of their home or office.  

Unfortunately online therapy with me is not appropriate if you:

• Are not a California resident

• Are suicidal or severely depressed

• Are frequently in a mental health crisis