AMFT #Pending amber@mcaft.com 650-297-3400 x 17
Locations: Telehealth Only
Fee: $160
Areas of Special Interest: BIPOC teens and young/emerging adults, LGBTQA+, Anxiety and Depression, Identity & Self-Esteem Development, Relationships & Attachments, Life Transitions & Adulting, Women’s Wellness & Self-Care, Creativity & Expression, Spirituality & Connection, Perfectionism & Imposter Syndrome, High Sensitivity & Empaths, Neurodivergency (ADHD, Autism, etc), and Chronic Pain / Illness
Modalities: Expressive Arts Therapy / PhotoTherapy, Internal Family Systems, Solutions-Focused, Narrative Therapy, Person-Centered, Transpersonal, Mindful Health & Wellness, and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
Overall Description:
Amber is a warm, empathetic expressive arts therapist that uses a holistic view of healing and being to assist clients with issues around identity, intimacy, mind/body (re)connection and authenticity. Ascribing to a completely integrative approach, she makes efforts to provide her clients with opportunities to approach healing and transformation in a holistic way. Her personal brand of therapy is strengths-based, culturally aware and trauma-informed and based heavily on holistic healing and creative expression, by incorporating elements of: internal family systems, mindfulness, somatic awareness & embodiment, PhotoTherapy and other forms of expressive arts (writing, visual arts, music and psychodranma), narrative therapy, and self-care/wellness. For her therapeutic approach, Amber prefers an active, hands-on, and more structured/solutions-focused approach to therapy to help clients achieve specific goals and outcomes, while using various EXA interventions to encourage emotional exploration. Sessions are designed as a space to actively engage with each client’s creativity for optimal healing and wellness.
As a principle, Amber believes that intuitively we are whole, deeply creative and courageous beings, yet the impact of personal experiences, social and political dynamics, and biological/physiological processes often creates internal dispositions of fragmentation. Her therapy is designed to address circumstances that challenge one’s core identity and empower any individual to take advantage of tools available that may seem traditional, non-traditional, simple, and available. Ultimately, she believes that creativity is at the heart of everything and encourages her clients to connect with their inner intuition and creativity by offering a safe and warm therapeutic space that fosters their exploration and play.
Her typical clients are highly-motivated individuals that are committed to their healing journey. They might be looking for deeper connections and more presence and to let go of old, harmful narratives. They might feel stuck or exhausted, or have just experiencing a life-changing loss or transition and don’t know where to even begin to start the work of getting back to themselves. As your therapist, Amber is here to help carry some of the load, to unpack your story, outline a course of action, and support you as you do the work. Together, you will embark upon a journey to relieve stress; improve relationships; instill hope; overcome neglect, abuse, and/or disappointment; foster self-awareness and self-compassion; gain clarity; decrease sadness; resolve conflict; reduce fear; cope with life circumstances and transitions; recover from trauma, hurt, and pain; grieve loss; achieve personal goals; face fears; increase happiness; facilitate laughter, and much, much more.
PhotoTherapy & Expressive Arts for Self-Care and Holistic Wellness
Amber particularly enjoys working with the Black community and other POC’s to infuse more creativity and expression into their everyday lives and care for optimal wellness. This can look like engaging in various expressive arts activities either in and out of session or simply encouraging her clients to find and adopt more creative solutions and perspectives. Photography, in particular, is a huge passion for Amber and she loves incorporating PhotoTherapy techniques into her work with clients, as well.
Experience:
Amber has experience working with diverse clients in school-based, private practice and community mental health settings. She has specific experience working with BIPOC and LGBTQ teens, college students and young adults navigating life transitions and identity concerns using expressive arts from her previous role as a Life Skills Mentor & MFT Trainee at Los Angeles City College. In addition, she is especially passionate about working with emerging adults on their path of adulting, and has done extensive research on the importance of wellness, self-care, creativity and spirituality in the BIPOC community. In previous roles, Amber has worked as an Intake Coordinator at a private practice and a freelance photographer, and enjoys engaging in various creative interventions to help her clients explore, reframe and share their stories.
Education:
- MA in Counseling Psychology, with a specialization in Expressive Arts from California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS)
- BA in Individualized Study (Creative and Alternative Healing) with minors in Creative Writing & Adolescent Mental Health Studies from New York University (NYU)