Education & Experience

I hold a Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology, and Somatic Psychology from the Santa Barbara Graduate Institute (part of the Chicago School of Professional Psychology).

I was trained in a variety of counseling theories and approaches, and learned about human growth and development, group dynamics, social and cultural foundations, and transpersonal and existential therapy approaches. Particular emphasis was placed on working with the whole person and paying attention to the client’s body, breath, and energy. I have also learned research methodology and study design, and statistical evaluation of data.

I am fluent in German and Russian.

I earned my undergraduate degree in Psychology at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), and received my high school diploma in San Francisco, CA at the Ruth Asawa School of the Arts (magnet high school).

After graduating from UCSB, I worked at a psychiatrist’s office in Santa Barbara, CA and transitioned to medical billing as I started my graduate studies at the Santa Barbara Graduate Institute.

My clinical work began as a residential counselor at a crisis shelter serving youth of all genders ages 11-18 and their families. I became an administrator and counselor for individual adults and adolescents, couples and families after a couple of years at the residential facility. I continued working with adolescents in foster care, and adult survivors of abuse and trauma, many of them coping through drug abuse or disordered eating for years afterwards.

In 2023, I completed my training and was licensed as a psilocybin facilitator in Oregon. If you want to learn more about it, please visit my website for those services. I wrote, illustrated and published a book about that work in 2024 called “In Lucid Color: Witnessing Psilocybin Journeys.” It is available on Amazon.