About me
I am committed to a world with social, economic and environmental justice. As a South Asian/White, cis-gender, transracial adoptee, I have experienced some of the complexities of privilege, ableism, classism and racism firsthand. Real, lasting change will require personal and systemic change - the status quo has to shift. To do this, we will need to go deep, to embody the ideas we hold, and learn to find ground when we lose our way. I am passionate about change and excited to be on this journey of creative evolution!
I have a Masters in Social Work from Smith College School for Social Work and am a licensed psychotherapist in practice for over 25 years. I hold a Masters in Public Policy from Rutgers University with experience in non-profit administration, including various supervisory and management roles. I am an experienced facilitator and trainer and have taught both policy and practice courses as an Adjunct Professor at Smith School for Social Work. I have been a Nonviolent Communication Practitioner since 2002 and have practiced mindfulness, meditation, and yoga for over 30 years.
Related Articles, Essays and Other Musings
A Sea of Mothers in Room: A Sketchbook for Analytic Action (Feb. 2024).
Letter to the Editor, in response to “The Failed Quest for Community Mental Health Centers” (NYT, Oct. 29, 2022)
How mixed race clinicians are filling gaps in clinical experiences by Kira Goldenberg (Smith SSW In-Depth, Fall 2023)
Certifications and Trainings
Advanced Clinical Supervision Certificate (2016), Smith School for Social Work.
And Still We Rise, 6-month leadership forum for womxn of color (2022), Amihan Jennifer Matias (https://www.kapwaracialequity.com).
Embodied Activism Certificate, Rae Johnson, PhD and Nkem Ndefo, MSN (2023).
Foundations in Somatic Abolitionism and 9-month Communal Consultation for All Bodies of Culture (2023), Resmaa Menakem, Jennifer-Lee Koble and Ja Young Ann-Williams.
BayNVC Leadership Program, Miki and Inbal Kashtan, participant (2005-2006) and assistant (2006-2007).
RYT-200 Kripalu Yoga Teacher Training (1994).
YTT-200 Shraddha Yoga, Corinne Andrews (2023) .
Mindfulness Mentorship Program, Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach (2023-present).
Other Influences
Nature has been my earliest and wisest teacher. As a child, I would spend hours playing outside in the city streets behind my house and in fields and woods outside the city. Both experiences lay roots for me and I continue to learn from the world around me.
Relational Psychotherapy - Relational and attachment-based theory deeply informs my practice, as an individual, relationship and family therapist.
Nonviolent Communication (NVC) - I began my studies in NVC in 2002 (https://www.cnvc.org), attending BayNVC’s Leadership Training in 2005 and assisting this training in 2006. NVC’s focus on empathy, identifying feelings and needs, and making requests have been powerful tools in my practice and in my life.
Psychosynthesis and Parts work - I completed my training in psychosynthesis in 2002 (https://www.synthesiscenter.org). Psychosynthesis is founded on the work of Roberto Assagoli, an early pioneer in transpersonal psychology and theories regarding “subpersonalities” or parts. More recently, I have been influenced by Richard Schwartz’ Internal Family Systems (IFS) which expands on work with parts in treatment.
Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT) - I was introduced to ACT in 2009 (https://psychwire.com/harris). The mindfulness and values aspects of this theory continue to be central in my work.
Sensory Awareness - I first discovered Sensory Awareness in 2019 when I met Stefan Laeng, Leader and Director of the Sensory Awareness Foundation (https://www.pathwaysofsensoryawareness.com). Sensory Awareness’ playfulness and creativity have greatly enhanced my own.
Insight Dialogue (https://insightdialogue.org) along with Insight Meditation/Barre Center for Buddhist Studies have also been helpful in my practice.