About Erika
My work is strength based, collaborative, and focused on what is happening in the room in real time in order to identify the patterns, dynamics, and behaviors that may be keeping you stuck while creating opportunities for meaningful change.
My work is centered on understanding relationships, family systems, attachment, trauma, and the patterns that shape how we connect with one another.
About Me
For more than 25 years, I have dedicated my career to understanding relationships, family systems, attachment, trauma, and the patterns that shape how we connect with one another. I take an active, collaborative approach to therapy, grounded in the belief that meaningful change requires commitment, dedication, and a willingness to develop greater self-awareness. My work focuses on understanding what is happening beneath the surface, identifying patterns that may be keeping you stuck, and creating opportunities for meaningful change.
My primary specialty is couples, relationships, and family therapy. I also work with individuals, adolescents, and young adults experiencing concerns such as anxiety, depression, trauma, grief and loss, parenting challenges, substance use and recovery, anger management, life transitions, and relationship and family difficulties. I have extensive experience working with high-conflict couples and families. Each person, couple, or family brings a unique history and set of circumstances, so treatment is tailored accordingly rather than based on a single therapeutic model.
My clinical training includes Level 3 Gottman Method Couples Therapy, PACT (Psychobiological Approach to Couples Therapy) Level 1, Relational Life Therapy (RLT), Internal Family Systems (IFS), EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing), and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT). I have also completed advanced training in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Mindfulness, Traumatic Grief-Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Seeking Safety, Motivational Interviewing, Narrative Therapy, Solution-Focused Therapy, Psychodynamic Therapy, and addiction and recovery. I am an Anderson Certified Anger Management Facilitator, a Certified Domestic Violence Counselor, and certified as a premarital and marriage counselor through Prepare/Enrich.
I am licensed by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences as a Marriage and Family Therapist. I earned a Master’s degree in Clinical Psychology from Antioch University, Santa Barbara, and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology with an emphasis in Marriage, Family, and Child Counseling from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. My clinical perspective has been shaped by the work of Salvador Minuchin, Murray Bowen, James Masterson, Sue Johnson, Francine Shapiro, Marsha Linehan, John Gottman, and others whose contributions have advanced our understanding of family systems, attachment, relationships, trauma, and emotional regulation.
Throughout my career, I have also been involved in training and supervising interns and clinicians in private practice and within Kaiser Permanente. I served on the teaching staff for the Extension Program at Loyola Marymount University, where I taught courses in Addiction Studies. While at Kaiser Permanente, I contributed to the development and facilitation of an intensive treatment program for adults experiencing work-related stress and psychological distress.
Ultimately, therapy is about more than simply reducing symptoms. It is about developing a deeper understanding of yourself and your relationships, recognizing patterns that no longer serve you, and having the willingness to do something different. My goal is to help you develop the insight, skills, and practical tools necessary to create meaningful change, both within yourself and in the relationships that matter most.