About

I am so glad to meet you!

My Offering & Approach

I am a Certified Sex Therapist and Certified Body Trust® Provider in Portland, OR, and my practice is devoted to working with issues and questions related to: function, libido, arousal and desire, orgasm, pain, accessing pleasure, compulsive or out of control behaviors, communication, gender identity and expression, gender affirming transition needs and care, sexual orientation and identity, nonmonogamous and polyamorous relationship navigation, and kink and fetish exploration. I also love to address deconstructing compulsory sexuality, and questions related to asexuality, aromanticism, repulsion, and obligation and related questions that people often have related to identity, orientation, trauma, and relationship building with others. I have more specialized experience working with folks in the sex industry, and survivors of sexual and intimate partner violence. I am passionate about offering care informed by Health at Every Size, intuitive eating, and Body Trust principles- all bodies are welcome and are deserving of respect and care. I am here to work on issues related to body image, body liberation, and disordered eating, and how body image interfaces with sex and sexuality. I also have limited availability for CSWA supervision.

I believe our work should be informed by mutual enjoyment and care- I hope to enjoy working with my clients just as much as my clients enjoy working with me! Pursuing pleasure is possible, even when we are working through trauma, pain, grief, depression, anxiety, and other challenging experiences.

I am available to meet with adults- individuals, couples, and moresomes. Sometimes, I offer groups related to sexuality and relationships.

My practice is informed by feminist therapy, queer theory, anti-oppressive practice, narrative therapy, and acceptance and commitment therapy. At the heart of the work I offer is the belief that a warm, non-judgmental, and compassionate relationship offers the place in which we can access healing. I believe that our realities coexist and are valid even while they may contradict one another. Issues related to power, control, privilege, and oppression intersect and inform all of our relationships and impact our mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual health. I strive to be aware of my privilege and specific identities and how they interface with my clients’ identities. I like to investigate and explore the stories that we tell ourselves about ourselves, others, and the world; learn how to sit with our emotions with care and nurturance; uncover and clarify our values and learn how to use them to guide us to places of integrity, joy, and pleasure; learn ways of accessing our bodies for healing; and offer curiosity and compassion to the parts of us that bring up shame, unsustainable thinking or behavior patterns, and other wounds.

Cultural Background & Body Story

I am a white cis queer woman, with a straight-sized and non-disabled body. I was born in the hot central valley of California to college sweethearts and was joined by a younger sibling a few years later, and my parents both worked to support a solidly comfortable middle class life for us. Their work and education in speech therapy, mythology and depth psychology, english, and writing set a path for me. My safe haven was my youth group at the Unitarian Universalist church we attended during my later childhood and adolescence, and diving into the world of band and music. Something deep in my soul-bones knew that I needed out of the conservative desert, and I deeply enjoyed and savored attending college in the Bay Area. My journey took me and my then partner to Portland for graduate school in 2010, where I have lived since.

I have navigated many facets of my sexuality since my early 20s- coming out as queer, navigating ethical nonmonogamy and polyamory, and stripping off and on for seven years have been formative and meaningful experiences for me. This all informed my journey to social work so that I could offer competent and sensitive sex therapy to my community. I am familiar with the complicated terrain that is sexuality, and the trauma and resilience that lives in our bodies when it comes to gender, sex, sexuality, fantasies, arousal, desire, body image, and emotional and physical pain. Body image work, and therapy in general, has been close to me for many, many years. As a recovering perfectionist, recovering dieter and compulsive exerciser, and familiar to anxiety, I understand the pain and grief that accompanies rebuilding trust with one’s body, saying no and finding my yes, and leaning into uncertainty and mystery.

I find deep joy, pleasure, and gratitude in cultivating a family with my partner Mara, our landmates, two cats, and our circle of friends and loved ones. My soul is filled by sunshine, being naked in bodies of water, eating delightful food, learning to slow myself down and rest, practicing how to show up as a supportive aunty, and having meaningful connections and conversations with family and clients alike.

Professional Background & Training

My work as a therapist in private practice is informed by my concurrent work as a mental health therapist at Quest Center for Integrative Health and as an adjunct instructor at Portland State University, where I teach Human Sexuality, Women’s Reproductive Health, and Maternal & Child Health.

I have a BA in Peace & Conflict Studies from UC Berkeley, and my MPH and MSW are from Portland State University. I am a licensed clinical social worker in the state of Oregon, and I am an approved supervisor for Clinical Social Work Associates (CSWAs) in Oregon. In addition, I have completed the California Institute of Integral Studies’ Sex Therapy Certificate and am a Certified Sex Therapist through AASECT. I have received the core EMDR training and am happy to offer that as one way to address various kinds of trauma. In addition, I am a Certified Body Trust® Provider and continue to deepen my awareness and understanding of weight inclusive and fat liberationist care.