I left the private sector and began my journey in medicine. During my second year of medical school I realized that, for me, no other specialty was more rewarding than psychiatry. After graduating from the Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, California I completed my general psychiatry residency at UCLA in the San Fernando Valley. My desire to work with young people in the field of mental health care led me to apply for and successfully complete a competitive fellowship in child and adolescent psychiatry at Cedars Sinai Medical Center in Beverly Hills California. The sum of these experiences culminated in the opening of my private practice, Oceanside Mental Health in Santa Monica, California.

I love my job. It is my passion to work with children, teenagers, young adults, and their families to help them explore safe, healthy, and meaningful solutions that will allow them to live better, more fulfilling lives. I genuinely love spending time with people of all ages, getting to know them as individuals, and learning how they think about themselves in their families and in their world.

As a conservative and judicious prescriber, I explore, recommend, and exhaust any reasonable and applicable alternative before turning to medication. I personally believe that many medications are over-prescribed. I spend much of my professional time reducing and safely discontinuing medications when appropriate. In addition to working with children and adolescents, I hope to offer an outside perspective to families who may become entangled in the throes of parenting. As a wife and mother of two, I experience firsthand that parenting is both the greatest and most challenging job around. I want parents to know that I understand, I’m “in it” with them, and that I feel honored to help in any way possible. I consider it a privilege to work with families in such an intimate capacity.