ABOUT ME
“The wound is the place where the light enters you.” -Rumi
Hi, I’m Susan. I’m a Marriage and Family Therapist.
Helping clients recover from their past, break free from unhealthy patterns, and feel confident in who they are is my life’s work.
I can help you by holding a non-judgmental space to work through the hard stuff, learn to recognize relationships that are unhealthy, create a new story about your experiences, and to celebrate and feel good about who you are.
I know what it is like to navigate the fast-paced environment of the modern world with anxiety, find those relationships that are healthy and fulfilling, and feel like you are different and don’t belong. It isn’t easy.
Coming from a Palestinian Muslim household and a community that doesn’t often reach out for mental health services, I understand both personally and professionally how our identities shape our world. Intergenerational traumas, negative messages about what it means to be a woman, expectations placed on you from immigrant parents that don’t always approve, and feeling like you live a “double life” or an “outsider” in your own country. I get it.
PROFESSIONAL BIO
- B.A. from University of California Santa Barbara
- M.A. in Clinical Psychology with an emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy from Pepperdine University
- Certified in Pain Reprocessing Therapy (an evidence-based approach for treating chronic pain)
- Trained in EMDR in Color (evidence based treatment for trauma)
- Trained in Brainspotting Phase 1
- Years of experience working with drug addiction and co-occurring disorders
- Years of experience running support groups ranging from art therapy to Dialectical Behavioral Therapy
- LGBTQ+ and Trans Affirming: I work with and welcome clients of all sexual orientations and gender identities.
- Current PESI training: Narcissistic Relationships, Emotional Abuse & Gaslighting: Treating and Empowering Survivors of Relational Trauma
I also desire to help you find the power from within to feel good again!
