About

Hi, I’m Jen and I use she/her pronouns—and they/them works for me, too. I am a psychotherapist licensed with the California Board of Behavioral Sciences (LCS 59626). I was born in Massachusetts and lived there for 25 years. As a young person, I spent summers at Tufts University’s Magic Circle Theater, and my experiences there were the most positive and influential of my childhood. I graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Drama from Tufts, with a minor in Art from the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. I continue to explore opportunities to perform and make work with others, and I consider my psychotherapy practice an extension of my inclination toward creative collaboration.

I obtained a Master’s degree in Social Work from the University of Southern California in 2009, and subsequently completed a certificate in Psychodynamic Therapy at the Newport Psychoanalytic Institute. My career has allowed me to practice in diverse settings including a hospital, an outpatient mental health clinic, a residential facility for children in foster care, a public elementary school, a Hollywood youth shelter, and people’s living spaces throughout Los Angeles County. Occasionally, I have worked in unexpected places—the freeway, a coffee shop, an art gallery, a fire escape.

In 2012, I established my private practice in Pasadena, and from 2013 through 2019, I worked at the Division of Adolescent and Young Adult Medicine at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. At CHLA, I helped to establish the Center for Transyouth Health and Development mental health team and received SAMHSA funding to provide psychotherapy to transfeminine and nonbinary youth of color and young adults. Additionally, I served as Patient Care Manager on the HIV Medical Care Coordination team, and provided clinical supervision to case managers and student interns.

In private practice, I primarily see people who are living with anxiety, depression, gender dysphoria, HIV, bereavement, stress, loneliness, and other challenges. I also support people who are exploring identity and gender. I work most successfully with people who seek to understand the internal and external conflicts underlying their present struggles—people who are willing to dig deep and work hard with me.   

My Practice

My clinical approach to psychotherapy reflects my own experiences as patient, learner, creative person, and social worker. I have a strong dedication to social justice, and an interest in connecting with people who have, in one way or another, been dealt a bad hand. My orientation combines strengths-based, trauma-informed, insight-oriented, psychodynamic, and relational approaches, incorporating principles of mindfulness and meditation. Transgender, non-binary, intersex, and gender-expansive people are welcome in my practice, as are lesbian, gay, bi, pan, asexual, poly, queer, and questioning folks. I also enjoy working with people who are living with HIV, and people who have depression and anxiety. I am committed to doing meaningful and valuable work collaboratively with each of my clients. Therapy is not easy, but I hope you will find that it is well worth your time and effort.

Affiliations

Gender Collective Clinical Consultation Group, member since 2020
World Professional Association for Transgender Health, member since 2017
National Association of Social Workers, member since 2008
University of Southern California, graduate, Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, 2009
Tufts University, graduate, Department of Drama and Dance, 1995