Fact:

"The child's work is to gain the courage to go back to the frightening thoughts and images of the trauma and explore them in a safer environment when there is a better sense of control. The child must then gain the skills necessary to cope with what may be seen as a frightening world in which to grow up as a healthier adult." Karp & Butler, 1996

Welcome

I have worked in the area of child abuse prevention and treatment since 1973 working in both West and East Coasts.

I am eternally grateful to Kathy Baxter, from the SF Child Abuse Council for facilitating the pursuit of my education. Kathy's husband, Dr.Tom Stern, encouraged me to pursue training as a mental health professional and served as an inspiration. I was extremely fortunate to receive training at the Redwood Center in Berkeley, California with mentors Dr. Karen Saeger and Dr. Robert Jay Green.

I developed an interest in working with child abuse in 1973 and pursued training in mental health that would allow me to formalize my work with young abused children and their families. Since that time, I have aimed to equip myself with a range of approaches that allow me to establish trust with young children and give me opportunities to decode their broad communication. It was clear to me almost immediately that many children who suffer interpersonal traumas do not speak of those traumas easily or explicitly. In other words, I learned to recognize the limits of verbal communication for young children (and teens) when they were in distress. This led me to study more about the expressive therapies, such as play, sand, and art therapy. The end result has been an integration of theories and applications that I believe optimize my usefulness to families.

Our areas of expertise include:

"I remain in awe of the reparative process that is ignited in those who sustain injuries. I am rewarded daily by the trust placed in me to witness and accompany clients on their healing paths."