Built and maintains clinical website designed to provide support for parents and families coping with the NICU experience
Writes and manages a blog detailing ways of coping in the NICU and after discharge
Provide tips and resources for parents coping with trauma, anxiety, depression, attachment issues or relationship challenges due to a challenging birth experience and the hospitalization of a child
Provides a remote, eight week clinical support program to parents and couples needing guidance and containment after having gone through the hospitalization of their premature or medically-complex babies in the NICU
Provides psychoeducational and trauma-informed support groups to nurses working in the NICU environment, incorporating art therapy and the most innovative research available
Writes guest blogs for Hand to Hold and NICU Central in an effort to spread awareness of the clinical issues NICU parents face
Manages a private practice office in Palm Desert, CA
Provides services to clients ranging from adolescent youth to the elderly, with the goal of empowering clients to move forward with their lives with intention and self-confidence
NICU PARENT SUPPORT GROUP FACILITATOR, YWCA OF THE SILICON VALLEY
SAN JOSE, CA 2013
Developed 8-week support groups for parents with a baby in the NICU, utilizing trauma-informed and strengths-based approaches
Created informational worksheets aimed at empowering parents with a baby hospitalized in the NICU
Pitched the groups at area NICUs and implemented the groups at Good Samaritan Hospital of San Jose
Coordinated with hospital social workers to make the support groups optimal for parents
Developed scrapbooks designed specifically for preemies and distributed them to parents
PROGRAM COORDINATOR/MANAGER, DAYBREAK
REDWOOD CITY, CA 2008-2011
Strengths-based transitional living program for homeless youth aged 16-24
Managed staff, conducted staff meetings and developed policy
Maintained the physical safety of the household
Worked as a therapist with roughly half of the clients; developed treatment plans, and coordinated group therapy
Trained staff in strengths-based therapy and youth development theory
Oversaw the outreach, intake and assessment process for prospective clients
Interacted with other agencies to appropriately place clients who needed a higher level of care
Acted as liaison between the program and its parent agency, StarVista
MFTI/CHILDCARE COUNSELOR, PROVIDENCE PLACE
SAN DIEGO, CA 2007-2008
Transitional living program in which women were reunited with their children after release from the prison system
Co-managed the childcare facility, working with children ranging from infancy to 14 years old
Oversaw the developmental progress of the youth, developed play and art therapy interventions as needed
Worked with women and families to help process this transition
MFTI/ART THERAPIST TRAINEE, OPICA ADULT DAY CARE CENTER
LOS ANGELES, CA 2006
Daycare facility for clients diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease or dementia (at varying stages)
Co-facilitated art therapy groups
Worked individually with clients as well as their families using art therapy interventions
MFTI/ART THERAPIST TRAINEE, FLORENCE CRITTENTON CENTER
LOS ANGELES, CA 2004-2005
A residential high school serving foster care youth, adolescent girls involved in the criminal justice system, and teen mothers
Provided individual and group therapy to the clients
Participated in staff meetings and helped to develop treatment plans
Helped the young women to process the closure of this program when its funding was cut and they had to be relocated
MFTI, CALIFORNIA FAMILY COUNSELING CENTER
LOS ANGELES, CA 2005-2006
Low-fee counseling center serving the Encino neighborhood of Los Angeles
Provided therapeutic services to children, teens, adults and families
Underwent intensive training in narrative therapy and utilized these skills in sessions with clients
EDUCATION
PHILLIPS GRADUATE INSTITUTE
M.A. Marriage and Family Therapy, Art Therapy 2006
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA BARBARA
B.A. College of Creative Studies Literature 2002
PUBLICATIONS
Externalizing the Unspeakable, 2006
My master's thesis: an art therapy program designed for therapists working with adolescent girls who practice self-harm behavior.
"Memory and Art". Art Therapy and Clinical Neuroscience, 2008 (Richard Carr, Noah Hass-Cohen, eds).
Collaborated with Robin Bush Vance to write a chapter about the brain's memory systems and how they operate while creating art.