I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and a Texas State Board Certified Supervisor who specializes in working with children, adolescents and families. I earned my bachelor's degree and graduate degree in Clinical Psychology from the University of South Africa, where I spent my formative years. After traveling through parts of Europe and Asia, I moved to the United States and received my Master's degree in Social Work from Smith College in Massachusetts in 2008.
I have worked in a number of different settings including a child and adolescent psychiatric hospital, public and therapeutic schools and outpatient mental health. Previously, I was a board member for the Hill Country Chapter of the Texas Association for Play Therapy and taught an Emotional Intelligence class at ACE Academy. Here is where I developed a passion for working with the gifted population.
My main areas of expertise are working with children, adolescents and young adults, diagnosed with anxiety, depression, attention deficit disorder and autism spectrum disorders. I believe that the parent-child relationship is central to the therapeutic process and therefore work closely with the family when treating a child. I encourage all parents to learn and practice the Nurtured Heart Approach to understand and connect with their children in the most effective way. In my experience, this reduces the amount of time children need to spend in therapy and helps parents feel more confident in their natural abilities.
Helping young people reach their full potential in the wake of mental health challenges has always been a passion for me. I use a number of different modalities to facilitate this process. These include: cognitive behavioral therapy, neurobiological and psychoeducation, play therapy, client-centered and psychodynamic therapy. In Addition, I am a Certified Advanced Nurtured Heart trainer and this approach has become an integral part of my work with children and their parents.
In my spare time, I enjoy being outdoors mountain bike riding, horseback riding, snowboarding and hiking.