Sometimes the pain from the past still feels present.
I’m a bilingual EMDR certified therapist licensed in WA, OR, DC and MD. I believe that trauma lives in parts of our brain that are difficult to change by talk therapy and, therefore, a bodily-aware modality can help the processing in a deeper and more long-lasting level.
No pressure. We meet, you tell me what brings you here, I answer your questions, and you decide what feels right next.
Who I work with
I work with people that are 25-years-old and up, any gender (or all of them), in English or Spanish (or Spanglish), who have experienced adversity, from early attachment issues or abuse to assaults by strangers and from a single traumatic incident to repetitive/complex trauma. Many of the people I work with "understand" things but things not necessarily "feel" the same way. They arrive feeling stuck, on alert, or weighed down by something that won’t loosen its grip or validity. What you’re feeling now is not a flaw in your character. It’s a nervous system that learned how to keep you safe, and is still trying.
Sessions are conducted via video and I use a digital Note Taker to create an accurate and timely record of your care. Both are HIPAA compliant.
How EMDR works (in 60 seconds)
EMDR is not talk therapy in the usual sense. We talk to understand what you need; the change happens when your nervous system gets to reprocess what it couldn't process at the time.
We use bilateral stimulation – small eye movements, gentle tapping on knees or shoulders, or small handheld buzzers – to help your brain hold the past and the present at the same time. Over time, the past stops feeling like it is happening now.
You set the pace. We build skills and a sense of safety first. Trauma reprocessing comes only when you are ready.
Latinx culture and immigration
My training is bicultural by choice. Cultural trauma and intergenerational trauma aren’t metaphors. Especially for immigrants. They’re real patterns transmitted in the body, in the silences at the dinner table, in the way your system responds before you decide to respond. I work with people who have lived under the slow weight of being rejected, unseen, or asked to be less than they are – because of their gender, their language, their sexuality, their body, their status.
I was born in South America and came to the United States as an adult. I know firsthand what it means to navigate languages, systems, and cultures. I understand the weight of loyalty to family, Catholicism precepts, and social expectations. As a Latina, I feel happy when I can help clients process their acculturation journeys, including the loss of loved ones and property, displacement, adaptation, and the opportunities that come with living in another country.
Credentials & coverage
- EMDRIA Certified Therapist – completed basic and advanced EMDR training, supervised hours, and full clinical hours required for certification
- Licensed in: – Washington, DC, and the states of Oregon, Washington, and Maryland
- Education: – Master's in Counseling, The George Washington University · Master's in Clinical Psychology, Adolfo Ibañez University (Chile)
- In-network with: – Aetna · BlueCross BlueShield · Moda Health · Optum · Regence · UnitedHealthcare (UHC) | UBH