Modern Depth Therapy isn’t just the name of my private psychotherapy practice. It’s a living philosophy of the craft of psychotherapy, borne out of personal and professional experience. This way of working has been part lovingly chiseled like a sculpture—as well as conjured out of sheer necessity (plus some punk-rock scrappiness). It grew from a deep need I saw in the world, my own frustrations in training institutions, my work with clients, and many years spent parked in the chair as therapy client myself.

Ultimately, Modern Depth Therapy is a response to psychotherapy’s increasing overreliance on science that often comes at the expense of soul, relationship, and a more expansive, worldly view of healing. Equally, it’s also a response to the stilted, “one-person,”  hierarchical therapy model frequently exemplified in traditional depth therapy (or depth at the expense of relationship).

Last but not least, it’s a response calibrated to the current zeitgeist—today’s unique concerns and challenges, viewed through a social justice-informed and trauma-competent lens. Modern Depth Therapy serves to bridge the gaps between different psychology traditions, the needs of the soul, and the realities of our time.

I call my therapy philosophy “psychotherapy with soul.” This means that I strive to create a therapeutic space that is:

• A place to fill your cup—Therapy not only provides a place to tend to your hurts. It’s also a place to gather nourishment and inspiration, amplify your strengths and passions, and stoke your life force and creativity. If you desire, therapy can also be a place to explore spiritual and existential matters.

• Empowering—You are the ultimate expert on yourself and your life. Therapy is a collaboration between you and the therapist. I also strive to provide therapy that is anti-oppressive, as well as social justice-informed and trauma-competent. Further, I strive to provide an LGBTQQIP2SAA-friendly space to explore sexuality, gender, and all flavors of relationships, including those that are kink/BDSM, nontraditional, or poly/CNM. 

• Genuine—The therapist is real, warm, sincere, and human, as well as professional. 

• Heartfelt—Vulnerability, authenticity, and humor are welcome.

• Integrative—The whole person is considered (mind/body/soul), not just the symptoms.

You can learn more about what Modern Depth Therapy is by reading the first article on my Substack, The Lapidary.

My performing arts education, clinical training, and lived experience as an artist all influence how I work with clients, including those who are also artists themselves.

The early years: Exploring the interface of art and psychology
Studying psychology and experimental theater at NYU Tisch School of the Arts in funky mid-90s Greenwich Village is where many seeds of my current work were planted. I researched the psychology of creativity, studied drama therapy and Jungian psychology, created multimedia art and theater, and trained in the mind-body-soul work of experimental theater pioneer Jerzy Grotowski.

As an actor and musician in academia, onstage, and in front of a camera, I have first-person experience of the intense highs, lows, and demands of being a performing artist. Some of my training experiences in theater, dance, and music were genuinely revelatory. Others were intrusive and demoralizing, leaving marks that affected me personally and artistically for years. That firsthand understanding of what the arts demand—and what can go sideways inside training and creative environments—shapes the way I support artist-clients.

My path to transpersonal psychology
After college, I continued making art while building a career as an editor and writer in psychology and integrative medicine, working for publications including Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine and ADVANCES in Mind-Body Medicine. Being immersed in that world made studying transpersonal psychology an inevitable next step, leading me to complete my master's in counseling psychology and certificate in creative expression at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology (now Sofia University) in Palo Alto, California.

Reweaving the body into therapeutic work
My early grounding in theater and dance gave me a visceral understanding that the body holds what the mind can't always access—a thread I've continued to follow. In the mid-2000s, I deepened my somatic training, becoming certified as a bodyworker and studying dance therapy and graduate-level drama therapy. Later, in 2023, I completed my certification as a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner®.

Tending the whole person
For me, depth therapy and genuine growth—whether artistic, personal, or both—require tending to the whole person. The mind, body, and soul don't operate in separate compartments—rather, they move together. And I find that we live and create more deeply and effectively when all three are in communication.

Here is an abridged list of my education and trainings:

EDUCATION
BA, Psychology, College of Arts and Sciences, New York University, N.Y., NY

BFA, Drama (Experimental Theatre Wing), Tisch School of the Arts, New York University, N.Y., NY

MA, Counseling Psychology, Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, Palo Alto, CA

Certificate in Creative Expression, Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, Palo Alto, CA

SELECTED TRAININGS
Somatic Experiencing Practitioner® (SEP) Certification, 3-Year Training Program, Somatic Experiencing International

Jungian-Oriented Psychotherapy 10-month training program in comprehensive, practice-based analytical psychology, CG Jung Institute of San Francisco

The Fox Method Nervous System & the Arts Program for Creatives, Performers, and Teachers (in progress)

“Burnout as a Crisis of the Self: A Jungian Perspective for Therapists and Practitioners” with Jane Clapp, Jungian Analyst and creator of Jungian Somatics™

“Helping Clients in Narcissistic and Emotionally Abusive Relationships” with Darlene Lancer, LMFT, JD

“Storytelling, Filmmaking and Transformation” with Anke Schafer, DGfT, Living Arts Counseling Center, Emeryville, CA

“The Alchemical Art: An Experiential Day of Symbol Making,” Felicia Matto-Shepard, MFT, CG Jung Institute of San Francisco

“The Marriage of Expressive Arts Therapy and Jungian Theory,” Kate Donohue, Ph.D., San Francisco

Publications include the following selection of articles published at HealthyPsych

• Navigating the Dark Night of the Soul
• Archetypes: What They Are and How They Help Us Grow
• Marion Woodman: Pioneer of Conscious Femininity and the Psychology of the Soul

My articles and/or research have also been cited in the following books:

• Poetry and Pedagogy across the Lifespan: Disciplines, Classrooms, Contexts
• Birthing the Holy: Wisdom from Mary to Nurture Creativity and Renewal

To receive early notice about new publications, including new Substack articles, sign up for my Substack newsletter, The Lapidary.

Member, California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists

Member, San Francisco chapter, CAMFT

Member, Bay Area Open Minds

Recipient of the Jill Mellick Award for Excellence in Creative Expression from the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, 2011