Meet Our Staff
Counseling & Psychological Services (CAPS) at UC Santa Cruz is a part-centralized, part-decentralized service, with professionally trained master's- and doctoral-level clinicians located in our central counseling office within the Cowell Student Health Center complex, as well as in various locations across campus. Our staff members come from diverse backgrounds and have a special interest in and experience with helping students explore a wide range of issues. We offer a variety of mental health and wellness services to UCSC students and the broader UCSC community.
Please note that while some of us have particular areas of specialization, all of us at CAPS recognize the social pressures and cultural factors that affect different groups in unique ways. We have been trained in aspects of multicultural counseling, including working with LGBTQIA+ students, addressing rape and sexual abuse, and supporting students with disabilities. CAPS staff also engage in ongoing mandatory and voluntary continuing education to further enhance their skills as mental health professionals.
The following is a list of our staff members and their locations. Note that we do not provide drop-in counseling, so if you are interested in finding out about and/or starting services with CAPS, please stop by our central office or call us during business hours at (831) 459-2628. You can also find more information about our services on our Counseling Services, Psychiatry, and Groups & Workshops web pages.
- Pronouns She/Her
- Title
- Postdoctoral Fellow, Trauma-Focus
- Division Student Affairs and Success
- Department
- Counseling & Psychological Services
- Student Health Center
- Office Location
- Porter College Annex Modular, 107
- Virtual via Zoom
- Office Hours Monday through Friday, 8 AM to 5 PM
- Mail Stop Student Health Center
Summary of Expertise
Camara's areas of specialization and interests include feminist-multicultural therapy, self-compassion, mindfulness, trauma and healing, and existential concerns. She is passionate about supporting students with exploring and navigating their identities--and fostering their sense of empowerment and connection--admist contexts and systems that are oppressive and marginalizing. She also appreciates getting to help students with executive functioning, burnout, impostorism, anxiety, depression, grief/loss, body image, and interpersonal relationships.
Biography, Education and Training
Camara is a neurodivergent, Cambodian American and Southeast Asian, cisgender woman. She identifies as nonreligious but spiritual, and mostly heterosexual (it’s still a journey for her!). Camara was born and raised in the Central Valley and is a daughter of two Cambodian refugees. She earned her B.A. in Psychology, with a minor in Sociology, from the University of California, Santa Cruz (and as such, is a returning Banana Slug!). Camara obtained her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from the University of Utah. She completed her predoctoral psychology internship at Stanford University Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS).
Camara uses an integrative approach infusing Multicultural-Feminist Therapy, and likes to draw from self-compassion work, mind-body approaches, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, and Dialectical Behavior Therapy. Camara takes a warm and relational approach to therapy and feels honored to be a part of her clients’ journeys as they experience life, give space to unpack their emotions and narratives, and move toward the life they want to have, authentically and meaningfully. Camara hopes for the people she works with to feel seen, heard, and known in the time spent together.
