I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Infant-Family Mental Health Specialist, working at the intersection of Climate Justice and Early Childhood Mental Health. As a child-trauma therapist in a climate disaster disrupted community, I have witnessed first-hand the impact of the climate crisis on our most vulnerable citizens. I am committed helping co-create resilient communities, in which every child will be nurtured and supported through the challenges to come.
Through nature-based therapy for young children with complex trauma, community resilience and trauma-responsive education and training, and organizational coaching in reflective communication, I seek to promote community wellbeing while disrupting the systems of injustice that disproportionately burden young families.
We live in a culture of relational poverty; society has essentially abandoned parents to shoulder the burdens of attachment and belonging, safety and protection, and facing a climate changed world with minimal support. It is past time to rebuild communities of care for parents and children.
My work is about promoting a sense of belonging for all children – in their families, their communities, and with the more-than-human world. Informed by extensive training in the neuroscience of early childhood development, I provide strategies and relational opportunities to strengthen the connections children need in order to maximize their potential for empathy, reciprocity, and the collaborative cooperation required to co-create a sustainable future.
I am available to provide workshops, trauma responsive practice and community resilience trainings and other offerings on parenting and climate crisis resilience. I promote systems change through consultation and reflective practice to businesses and agencies working at the intersection of climate justice and community resilience.
I am proud to have supported my colleague Elizabeth Bechard as co-author on this extensive lit review: What are the Impacts of Concern about Climate Change on the Emotional Dimensions of Parents’ Mental Health? A Literature Review.
Watch me provide suggestions for coping with climate distress on Norcal Public Media’s Be Prepared series
Blog Post: Investing in The Labor of Care: Guaranteed Basic Income as Climate Resilience
“I am attempting to treat the consequences of our cultural conviction that the work of care is not real work. That the vital task of preparing the next generation of humans for their place in this world, is somehow neither vital nor meaningful. That it doesn’t even count. “
Listen here to my thoughts on how to support our children and ourselves through climate distress on this episode of The Big Burn podcast
See a schedule of public speaking engagements
I am endorsed by the State of California as an Infant-Family Mental Health Specialist and Reflective Practice Facilitator.
I am proud to be a fellow of the Sonoma County Leadership Institute for Just and Resilient Communities
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