I was born and raised in Hawaii and moved to the Portland/Vancouver area shortly after graduating from high school. I attended the University of Oregon for my undergraduate degree. After graduating I volunteered in Kenya for a year. It was there that I first became interested in a career in counseling as I worked with a social worker in the slums of Nairobi. When I returned home from Africa, I enrolled in the Social Work program at Portland State University and obtained my Masters in Social Work (MSW). My first job as a social worker was with Centennial School District in Oregon. I enjoyed working with students and families providing counseling and resources. I later moved to Prince George, BC (a far cry from my roots in Hawaii) where I worked for a counseling agency and taught several classes in Social Work at the University of Northern British Columbia. I moved back to the Northwest in 1999 and have been working at Kaiser Permanente ever since. I enjoy the dedicated, caring professionals I work with and the wide variety of clients I am able to serve here.
I work part time in the Mental Health Department of Kaiser Permanente. My practice includes adults, children and families. I also have facilitated a variety mental health groups over the years including groups for treating depression and anxiety, trauma, and parenting strategies for working with teens. I am drawn to collaborative approaches for treating mental health issues and I tend to utilize models of therapy that include mindfulness and acceptance as well as cognitive behavioral strategies to help patients function in their lives.
I am blessed to have a great network of family and friends that keep me hopping. My son plays club soccer, therefore I am a soccer mom first and foremost (though I have never gotten used to standing in the rain for 2 hours!) My husband also plays soccer which adds to the fun. I fill in the time between soccer games with dinner/cards with friends, Zumba (Gold) classes, taking my dog for walks, scrapbooking, camping, and traveling.
