about

I believe in the ability to further discover who we are through open dialogue, honest listening, and the courage to look deeper within ourselves – in a safe, non-judgmental space where true connection with another is possible. Personal therapy provides an opportunity to find and give voice to our authentic selves, achieving healing in the process. And as we heal, our relationships heal.

I am passionate about working with couples, families, individual adults and teens who have become stuck in unsatisfying relationships, destructive patterns, or their own individual pain. This “stuck-ness” can leave us feeling alone, misunderstood, anxious, and depressed.

I offer an environment that is caring, challenging, and encouraging as we work together to develop new insights and create the personal and relational growth you are seeking.

“Once you are real you can’t become unreal again. It lasts for always.”
– Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit

Clinical Experience

• Interior Design Firm: A Psychotherapy Practice, Burbank CA
• Private Practice, Burbank, CA
• Center for Connection, Pasadena, CA
• Michelle Harwell Therapy, Eagle Rock, CA
• Sync Counseling Center, Pasadena and Sierra Madre, CA
• Pasadena Mental Health Center, Pasadena, CA

Specialized Training

• EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), a powerful treatment for people who suffer from symptoms of trauma, anxiety, panic and disturbing memories
• Attachment-Focused EMDR: Healing Developmental Deficits and Adults Abused as Children with Dr. Laurel Parnell
• The Couples Institute’s Developmental Model of Couples Therapy: Integrating Attachment, Differentiation, and Neuroscience – Advanced Training – with Dr. Ellyn Bader and Dr. Peter Pearson
• PACT Level II Therapist (Psychobiological Approach to Couple Therapy), an integration of neuroscience, arousal regulation and attachment theory, created by Dr. Stan Tatkin
• PREPARE/ENRICH inventories, a comprehensive assessment tool for pre-marital counseling

My Education

• Fuller Theological Seminary – MS in Marriage and Family Therapy
• University of California, Los Angeles – M.Ed. in Secondary English Education
• University of California, Los Angeles – BA in English

Professional Affiliations

• California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists
• American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy