A psychologist who has walked this road.

I am a psychologist licensed in California and have been practicing for almost 25 years. As a parent of a child with complex needs myself, I have spent many years learning about what it takes to sustain my health as a caregiver and I am happy to share my knowledge with you.

Emerging research on moms of neurodiverse children shows that they can have the same levels of stress as combat soldiers. My experiences raising a child with an ultra rare genetic disorder with behavioral challenges fits this description to a tee. Through my experiences working with patients with Acute Stress Disorder and PTSD, I started to understand that my own symptoms were very similar to theirs. During the eight years of our diagnostic odyssey, I was constantly in fight or flight battling all of the institutions that were not built to help my kid or our family. I needed to find ways to incorporate attending to my own nervous system on a daily basis or I was going to reach burn out fast. (If I hadn't already gotten there.) 

I searched and searched for someone in my profession who could help me with this. I wasn't able to find someone and I swore that when things leveled out a bit I would provide this for others coming after me.

So here is where I can be of service to you…

As the parent of a rare and/or neurodiverse child:

• How are you taking care of your own needs?
• How are you making sure that you manage your own stress, overwhelm, and activated nervous system?
• What are the barriers to doing this if you are not?
• Are you having feelings of grief and loss that are hard to name, explain? Researchers use the term "chronic sorrow" to describe the experience of raising a kid with developmental disabilities, a form of grief that is described as a "living loss." (I have renamed it for myself as chronic "living in my feelings.") Are you sitting with this all day long and not sure how to make sense of it and what to do about it?
• Are you having trouble navigating your new identity as a parent on an atypical journey?

I want to hear all of it. The good and the bad. The easier days and the hard days. The helpful thoughts and the unhelpful thoughts. I have been there. And I promise you, it can get better.