he/him
Student Affairs and Success
Multicultural Psychotherapist
Staff
Merrill College Academic Building
#107 A
CAPS
Dean is a Queer, Trans, Parsi, second-generation Indian-American, multi-racial man born and raised in the Bay Area. Dean is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with a Multicultural focus. He earned his Master of Counseling from Palo Alto University and Bachelors of Arts in History of Art from UC Berkeley. Dean came to his work as a therapist through a background of sex-positive sex education and Queer peer support groups. Prior to UCSC, Dean worked in residential co-occurring treatment, college student mental health and community-based outpatient settings. Dean uses a Social Justice and anti-racist clinical lens. He collaborates with students to provide the emotional safety necessary to meet their goals. Dean prioritizes advocating for students. He feels it’s a privilege to support them on their journey.
Dean’s approach to therapy is person-centered, gender-affirming, neurodiversity-affirming, strength based, and trauma informed. He partners with students to find the therapeutic approach that best meets their needs; his integrative approach often includes Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Psychodynamic, solution focused, and Feminist therapies. Dean has a special interest in working with students of color, Queer identified students, gender identity, and sexuality. Dean also has extensive experience working with identity development, neurodiversity, substance use concerns, chronic suicidality, mood and anxiety disorders, those previously incarcerated, and unhoused populations.
