Life has a way of bringing us face to face with experiences we never imagined we’d have to navigate. Sometimes we adapt with surprising resilience. Other times, we feel overwhelmed, stuck, or disconnected from ourselves and the people we love.

Whatever has brought you here, you don’t have to face it alone.

Clinical Focus

I am passionate about working with teenagers, adults, couples, and families navigating anxiety, depression, trauma, grief, relationship challenges, and life transitions.

I also enjoy supporting neurodivergent individuals and families in better understanding themselves, strengthening relationships, and embracing the unique ways they experience the world.

Therapeutic Approach

A space to slow down and just be yourself

What I offer is simple but powerful: a compassionate, nonjudgmental space where you can slow down, breathe, and simply be yourself. A safe place to lay your burdens down. Together, we make room for whatever is present, whether that’s grief, fear, anxiety, depression, shame, loneliness, uncertainty, joy, or hope.

My role is to walk alongside you and reflect back what I see as you come to know yourself more deeply. In my experience, as self-understanding grows, so does the capacity to live in a way that feels authentic, meaningful, and aligned with what matters most.

I draw on evidence-based approaches -including IFS, ACT, EFT, Motivational Interviewing, CBT, and somatic work – along with an understanding of the nervous system. When we understand how the mind and body work together, shame often begins to loosen its grip, making space for healing.

Above all, I believe people carry a deep wisdom, an inner strength, and an enduring goodness. Wherever you are in your journey, I will meet you with warmth, compassion, hope, and deep respect.

About Monica

Growing up in a tricultural home shaped by Brazilian, American, and Chinese influences, I’ve always been fascinated by our common humanity and what shapes who we become. That curiosity led me to study psychology and biochemistry at Wellesley College, earn a PhD in Immunology and Microbiology, and pursue a career in neuroscience at UCSF.

Many years later, when my children began experiencing mental health challenges, my life changed unexpectedly. Those years reshaped my assumptions about how life “ought” to be, replacing them with a more spacious way of being, grounded in presence, acceptance, and compassion. It was both painful and transformative.

I came to understand that happiness isn’t about living a “perfect,” pain-free life. More often, it’s about learning how to be with ourselves, and with one another, in the midst of it. This remains a lifelong practice, both personally and professionally, and it’s what inspired me to become a therapist.

Outside of work, I laugh, cry, meditate, sing off-key in the car, and I’m still bad at watercolor after a year of trying. I love all of it. I share this journey with my husband, our four grown children, and two dogs.