About Me

As a child I was endlessly fascinated with watching people and wondering what made them do the things they did.  I had plenty to observe, too, growing up in a family of six siblings. Our home was a parade of kids of all ages, problems and joys combined as only children’s lives can be. Spanish and English were a day-to-day experience with my grandparents in my bi-racial family, and both cultures are a part of me. My dad was in and out of recovery from alcoholism throughout my life. Home life could be tense, yet somehow the giving and receiving of love was felt and practiced. Along with that I was fortunate to have many models of beautiful faith, which drew me towards a nourishing relationship to God. This has translated into many years of spiritual development in the Catholic tradition at Old Mission Church in San Luis Obispo. I relish and am deeply grateful for the discoveries and mysteries that have blessed my journey.

After high school, I completed my education at San Diego State and Cal Poly – San Luis Obispo, then after a few years of social work I earned a Master’s degree in Psychology. I have continued to study current and cutting-edge therapies to broaden my knowledge base and skillsets throughout my career.

While I am and have always been comfortable working with individuals, what propelled me into a lifetime concentration on relationship issues and couples counseling was the unfortunate dissolution of my own first marriage in 1988. That pain, and the lessons learned during that time, changed the course of my career and future life. When I married my husband, Steve, a few years later, we mutually agreed to use our marriage as a learning laboratory and aimed to create a healthy marriage, one where long-term love could thrive.  Almost three decades later, we both give back what we learned along the way, through classes and retreats, to encourage and ease the journey of others who want to make their union something of beauty, passion, and joy.

My free time is spent enjoying swimming, reading, dance, sewing and the celebration of great food through cooking and sharing meals with family and friends. I live in San Luis Obispo, California. We have three grown sons, a weird dog and an even weirder cat.