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
- Clinical Psychologist / Multi-Cultural Focus
- Division Student Affairs and Success
- Department
- Counseling & Psychological Services
- Student Health Center
- Phone 831-459-2109
- Mail Stop CAPS
Summary of Expertise
I specialize in working with students of color, student activists, first generation students, and Queer identified students. I have a special interest in sexual and gender identity development, family relationships, culture and ethnicity, and socio-political stress.
Biography, Education and Training
I am a cisgender, Latinx, Queer woman, born and raised in Southern California. I earned my doctorate degree at Pepperdine University, and have been working in college and university counseling centers since 2011. I work from a Person-Centered therapeutic framework, while incorporating cognitive-behavioral, solution focused, and trauma informed therapies. My work is largely attentive to the intersections of various parts of identity, including culture and ethnicity, sexual identity, and gender. My goal is to work collaboratively with students to identify changes they wish to experience in their life, highlight personal strengths and resilience, and help them create a roadmap to facilitate movement towards their goals.
