Mabuhay! <a Filipino greeting meaning to live, be, exist, and grow>
I was born and raised in the Bay Area, and I am a second-generation Filipina-American. I feel delighted and privileged to work with the community in which I grew up.
I work with children, adolescents, adults, and families to provide comprehensive diagnostic evaluations, second opinions, psychotherapy, medication management, and treatment recommendations. I strive to develop a warm, trusting, and nonjudgmental relationship to create a space where a person or family can feel seen and heard. I will listen to your story and help empower you with a voice.
I have particular expertise in working with people and families from diverse cultural backgrounds, especially immigrants and children of immigrants struggling with acculturation, identity formation, and navigating multicultural relationships. I also specialize in working with those going through fertility treatments as well as supporting pre-and post-natal parents as they adjust to parenthood and strengthen the parent-child connection. In addition, I help people through relationship difficulties, family stressors, school/work/career challenges, difficulties with social interactions, and loss of purpose and direction.
In general, my approach is direct, humorous, warm, and gentle. However, I uniquely design my approach to fit each person’s style of thinking and relating. I help people share, explore, and release feelings and emotions that may be difficult to express verbally. My hope is that each person I work with can (re)discover their authentic self; learn to understand and accept themselves; find meaning, direction, and fulfillment; and reach their goals.
Ingat at Salamat po. <Take Care and Thank you.>
Education:
– High School: Mercy High School, San Francisco – Valedictorian
– College: University of San Francisco – B.S. in Biology, with minors in Psychology and Chemistry; Magna cum laude
– Medical School: Creighton University School of Medicine
Training:
– General Psychiatry Residency: California Pacific Medical Center, San Francisco – Chief Resident
– Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Fellowship: University of California, Davis Medical Center – Chief Fellow
Board Certification:
– Psychiatry
– Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Professional Memberships:
– American Psychiatric Association
– Northern California Psychiatric Society
