A psychologist who has walked this road.

I offer the evidence based treatments of CBT, Mindfulness and DBT focused therapy for parents of children who have rare diseases or are neurodiverse. I am a psychologist licensed in California and have been practicing for almost 25 years. As a rare parent 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 a rare genetic disorder with behavioral challenges fits this description to a tee. As a psychologist with extensive experience treating patients with a history of trauma, I started to understand that my own needs were very similar to theirs. In the early days 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? How do you take care of yourself? Do you need help figuring this all out?

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.