New Perspectives Center for Counseling Staff

I have a passion for working with people, especially those looking for assistance with emotional and psychological challenges. I hold a Master’s degree in Psychology and am currently a Doctoral student in Clinical Psychology. My emphasis is depth psychology, which includes working with creative/expressive arts, dreams, and the therapeutic modality of Sandplay therapy. My theoretical orientation is primarily psychodynamic oriented psychotherapy, or insight oriented therapy, highlighting ecological, feminist, humanistic-existential, multicultural and spiritual perspectives.

My approach to psychotherapy is to focus on you holistically, which includes recognition of your gifts as well as areas where you may be experiencing difficulties or barriers that may be hindering you. I strive to provide a safe place for you to explore and express yourself authentically, with an emphasis on respect, reflection, self knowledge and growth.

Are you feeling a call to do something differently in your life? Perhaps you need clarity around responding to certain people and situations as you navigate life situations like parenting, grief, or loss? If so, I can help.

I work with clients at all stages of life who are looking for a safe place and a fully present and insightful companion to explore their own unique inner landscape.  I work in a client centered fashion bringing tools like mindfulness, somatic awareness, spiritual connection, creative expression, and an open heart to our work together.

Best wishes to you on your journey. 

A traumatic event can be life-changing. We may feel as if the person we once were has been permanently changed. In many ways, this is true. We may feel anxious, confused, and isolated. Yet trauma can be transformed into increased resilience and new capacities. I have a strong conviction that with the right conditions, we can heal from adversity. If fact, we can thrive. My work is to provide a safe relationship that can support the body’s intrinsic capacity for healing and the mind make new meaning.

I have completed a Master’s degree in counseling psychology at Meridian University. I am a graduate from the Somatic Experiencing Institute and am EMDR-trained. I’ve had a long standing meditation practice that started when I was working on my undergraduate degree in Buddhist and Western Psychology. My mother is an immigrant to this country, and I have lived in Europe for nine years; I have compassion for the outsider.

I also have a long history in the performing arts and thus love to support creative people and remove the obstacles that prevent us from being the person that we are meant to be. My approach is humanistic and trauma-informed. I incorporate somatics, mindfullness, parts work and creativity into therapy sessions. I look forward to meeting you!

"There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.” -Leonard Cohen

The cracks show up in your dreams, your slips in speech, the connections in what you speak about week to week ….that’s what I listen for in the room. We look for what your inner Self is trying to communicate to you, what you don’t know that you don’t know. You can say anything in the room … or nothing. The breaking open of the heart allows the love in.

“Why do we focus so intensely on our problems? What draws us to them? Why arethey so attractive? They have the magnet power of love: somehow we desire our problems; we are in love with them much as we want to get rid of them . . . Problems sustain us — maybe that’s why they don’t go away. What would a life be without them? Completely tranquilized and loveless . . . There is a secret love hiding in each problem” -James Hillman

My studies have included extensive work with dreams, the medicine of indigenous people, the deep listening of Freud & Lacan, the deep love in the heart of the Shaivite, Tantric traditions, and the place of LGBTQI2Spirit people in the world in terms of gifts and purpose.

“What does it matter how many lovers you have if none of them gives you the universe?” -Jacques Lacan

Whether you are in a life transition, feeling overwhelmed or hopeless, or grappling with existential/spiritual concerns, you don’t have to do this work alone. Together, we can look at old patterns, acknowledge stressors you may carry from early life, other people and unjust systems, and transform your relationship to your truest self and to others. My style has been described as gentle, sensitive, insightful, and collaborative. My approach is mindful, multicultural, experiential, and trauma-informed.

A person of color and second-generation immigrant with nearly two decades of leadership experience in nonprofit and community-based social change efforts, I love working with people from a range of perspectives and life experiences in a nonjudgmental and compassionate way. Having spent time in academic public health research, where I received my doctorate, I understand the challenges of work/life balance, burn out, and the search for an authentic, meaningful life.

I have an MA in counseling from Palo Alto University and training with the Focusing and Expressive Arts Institute. I am also a graduate of San Francisco Theological Seminary’s diploma in spiritual direction/guidance and bring an awareness of integrating the whole human person. Our work together may be informed by neuroscience, attachment theory, somatic awareness, creativity, awareness of parts, and mindfulness. Together, we can collaborate on living more fully in the present moment.

“…what the world needs is people who have come alive.” – Howard Thurman, educator, philosopher, theologian, and civil rights leader.

I help people caught in anxiety, depression, stress and confusion find healing, wholeness and purpose. My approach is gentle and insightful and my method is multi-faceted. For my clients, this means deepening self-awareness and access to powerful inner and outer resources that support creative and effective responses to life’s many challenges. I help couples understand and transform conflict and cycles of negative behavior into healing connections that are safe, intimate and deeply satisfying. I help families explore the hidden rules, roles and rubrics that drive conflict and disconnection and discover new paths to greater trust, freedom, fulfillment and joy. I bring a natural ability to connect with people at the center of their lives and support and empower their efforts to heal and discover their potential. Indeed, psychotherapy can yield profound results including a reduction in anxiety, depression, confusion and self-defeating behavior. It can increase confidence, clarity and a deep sense of well being. When you bring your awareness gently, deliberately and consistently into your experience, with the support and guidance of a skilled, caring therapist, you open a powerful path to change and growth.

I earned a Master of Arts degree in Integral Counseling Psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco. Drawing from the major spiritual traditions of the East and West, recent cultural and social sciences research, and the innovations made by contemporary psychoanalytic, humanistic, systemic and transpersonal psychologies, the CIIS Integral Counseling Psychology program views psychological healing and growth within the larger context of spiritual unfolding. The program is experiential, culturally sensitive, and centered on the inner work necessary to become a healer. Prior to a career in psychology, I spent more than two decades as a financial journalist in Boston, New York City and San Francisco.

If you're looking at this site, there's probably some part of your life that you're considering changing: a job, a relationship, a way of dealing with people or situations that isn't working as well as you would like. Having a therapist to talk out your ideas and feelings with can make the changing you want to do easier.

I'm a seasoned intern who's worked with many women, men, and couples, from many different places and situations. I offer you an interested listener who can also make suggestions, based on my training and experience; then you decide what choices you want to make. If you would like, we can use drawing, role playing, and sand tray work as part of your therapy. I have a special interest in working with couples, with artists and musicians, and with everyday problems of work and personal relationships. I'd be happy to talk with you about the life changes you want to make.

“We are born in relationship, we are wounded in relationship, and we can be healed in relationship.” - Harville Hendrix

Drawing upon a variety of different practices and teachings, Peter uses a collaborative approach that is unique for each client to help access their inherent strengths. By being curious, authentic, and empathic with clients, Peter leverages the relationship between the therapist and client to help them reach their goals. Sometimes those goals may include reducing feelings of worry and worthlessness, repairing relationships, exploring identity, understanding and processing trauma, and learning new skills to manage anger, doubt, or fear.

Peter works with couples, families, adolescents and adults from a variety of cultural backgrounds. He has experience working with clients that have experienced traumatic events, are struggling to manage symptoms of depression and anxiety, are experiencing loss and grief, are working through parenting challenges, divorce or combining families, and couples seeking to better communicate or mend their relationship.

Peter received his Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology from the Wright Institute in Berkeley, California. His training is strength-based, experiential, family system and attachment based. Peter is pursuing advanced training in Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) in order to better support all types of couples and Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) to help clients process trauma.

Sometimes, despite our best efforts, we’re simply stuck and need help finding clarity, direction, and unique solutions to our problems. I believe in our innate inclination toward health and wholeness. I also believe in the therapeutic process and its ability to improve relationships (with others and with one's self) and its capacity to foster peace, clarity, joy, meaning, and a greater state of aliveness. During the therapeutic process, you'll discover things about you and your life that you didn't know before, experience your feelings beginning to change, and discover new possibilities and solutions. My style is gentle, warm, and non-judgmental. I work with individuals, couples, children, and adolescents using a blend of approaches with a steady eye on the mind-body-spirit interplay. The goal, however, is always to find the therapeutic approach and pacing that supports your comfort level and your ability to explore freely.

In closing, please know that you're showing incredible initiative by researching therapists. And, really, that’s so much about what therapy is. It’s taking action and simply exploring new ideas and options, trying them on, seeing how things feel, and figuring out what works best for you. In essence, your path toward more satisfaction and fulfillment has already begun. I have great hope for you, and I wish you all the very best. Good luck!