I have always been drawn to people and their stories, valuing the richness of our differences while recognizing the shared humanity that unites us all.

In my early adulthood, I volunteered with the Peace Corps in Ethiopia, an experience that led me to pursue a master’s degree in Global Public Health at Columbia University. As a graduate student, I worked with the World Health Organization in Ethiopia and Geneva to implement large-scale community mental health programs that emphasized culturally informed interventions and collaboration with local communities to address their unique mental health needs. This formative training taught me to examine health through a broad lens—how the systems around us, and our access to resources, shape individual well-being.

I later pursued my PhD in Clinical Psychology at Columbia University, drawn to the field for its ability to integrate my passion for working with diverse individuals and communities through both therapy and research. Throughout my doctoral training, I worked in large and small community mental health clinics in New York and Los Angeles, inpatient units in the Bay Area, and neuropsychological assessment sites at UC San Diego. These varied settings allowed me to interact with clients from a wide range of cultural, socioeconomic, and clinical backgrounds,

In addition to the therapeutic approaches I have developed through years of training, I connect with clients through my own lived experiences—growing up in a multicultural immigrant household, navigating the moves and transitions of a professional life, and raising children while juggling many roles each day.

I feel deeply grateful to do work that feels so meaningful. It is an honor to be invited into my clients’ personal stories and emotional worlds, and I find fulfillment in supporting individuals as they move through periods of stuckness toward greater clarity, connection, and ease.

Outside of work, I enjoy reading, dancing, spending time with friends and family, and maintaining an active lifestyle by the beach. I try to practice what I encourage in my clients—pausing throughout the day to notice the small joys that, over time, add up to a good life.