I am here to help you.
I will not take charge, yet I will be there with you along the way.
I will provide a safe spot and just the right materials for you to tell your story.
I will listen to you.
I will see you.
I will help you find a way to get through this tough time in your life.
I will give guidance, counsel, and help you develop real world tools & coping skills. I will provide space for your courage and strengths to grow.
Together we will find your calm & joy.
My greatest passion is helping people take charge of their own lives and open up new possibilities for their own unique stories. For me, thoughts are made up of words AND pictures. Let's look at yours together, and help you make sense of your worries, sadness, and struggles while also exploring your visions, goals, and dreams.
You have a story.
You have pictures to go with it.
Sometimes that story scaffolds us to be the best we can be, and other times elements of our story hold us back and the problems of our lives become the main characters.
My specialty is helping others to explore their pain or problem stories visually, as well as with words — to lay it all out in front of you to see things from a new point of view. This helps figure out what is holding you back, causing stress, turmoil, or making your life unmanageable. What is it that causes you to sit revving in high gear, yet be stuck thinking "Where am I really going?" Together, we can move through those emotional times of life that are keeping you from moving forward, evolving, and achieving personal calm or professional growth.
This is my story.
A Hollywood native, I have been a visual thinker my whole life. My passion for understanding how the brain works and its role in creativity & motivational thought is part of everything I do.
A graduate from both UCLA and ArtCenter College of Design (Europe & Pasadena), I spent decades building brands with some of the brightest in the business world. I'm perhaps most proud of my key role as a lead global Art Director engaging the world to “Think different.” Working weekly with Steve Jobs, Lee Clow and talented teams at TBWA\Chiat\Day and Apple Computer, I was always at the hectic, yet energizing, intersection of art & science. No, “Think different” is not a grammatical error. The words and images encouraged people to shift their whole view of creativity & communication and set the path for a world that truly would be "different." After almost 20 years, eventually becoming an agency Partner and Worldwide Director of Art & Design at TBWA\, I realized I loved my time helping favorite brands find their voice, but knew it was time to expand my own toolbox and help people at a more personal level.
I earned a Master’s Degree in Psychology with a focus in Art Therapy & Marriage & Family Therapy and have taken part in years of extensive professional training and face-to-face clinical work with real people and real families. Currently, I am in private practice as a Licensed Psychotherapist with the creative specialty of Art Therapy in Los Angeles.
I continue the marriage of art & science teaching people to understand how their brains really work and guide them to build their inner creative problem-solving voice. Whether when I worked as a LAUSD school-based counselor, at OPICA Senior Adult Day & Counseling Center, as a program creator for Alzheimer’s Greater LA, or as a support group leader at grief camps for Our House or Comfort Zone Camp, or in my own private practice, I love seeing those "ah ha" moments spill onto the page and the looks in my clients' eyes when they realize they CAN go about their days without the weight of anxiety, grief, trauma, neruodivergence, behavior issues, isolation or emotional turmoil.
I use art-making, along with Narrative and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help you change the thought patterns, emotions, and behaviors that hold you back. So, now I really do engage people of all ages to actually "think differently" about how they go about the life needs of parenting, adulting, aging, or grieving.
Always active in my community, I am on the board of the Southern California Art Therapy Association. I also cherish involvement in developing healing programs with local schools, grief camps, senior & memory loss communities, and still stay connected to creative organizations globally.
Together with individuals, families, teams, or groups, it is my honor to help guide the unlocking of barriers to creativity, the processing of grief, the mindful management of stress, and the understanding of the onset of Alzheimer's or other cognitive impairments.
If you are in need of a change, want support, or would like to set up a creative growth or stress management workshop for your team at your place of business or school, please contact me and let's get started on the rest of your story.
