About me.
Hello, I’m Kay!
I am a psychotherapist based in Miami, Florida, specializing in treating anxiety and depression. I approach my work through the lens of social justice, psychodynamics, attachment and relationship. I work with people dealing with challenges related to shame, grief and loss, childhood trauma and attachment, intergenerational trauma and ancestry, addiction, codependency, recovery, life transitions, gender and sexuality. I believe in the power of the therapeutic relationship, healing through the telling and retelling of our stories and the reclamation of joy.
I graduated with my Masters Degree in Social Work from New York University’s Silver School of Social Work in New York City. I obtained Advanced Training at the Women’s Therapy Center in Berkeley, California and was a student of yoga and mindfulness meditation at Piedmont Yoga in Oakland, California. I received specific trauma-informed training via the Prison Yoga Project. I am licensed in both Florida and California states.
My Philosophy
There are elements to all of us that are hidden and unknown until we encounter right timing. It is important to recover these sometimes secret, often banished, parts of self, which yearn to be seen. The work is to reveal, acknowledge and take care of all parts of self, and with the right support learn how to accept and integrate them into the whole You. Ultimately, we are all our own healers. Like tending to a garden, maintaining our mental wellness is a process and a ritual. As with gardening, it is vital to pull out the weeds and remove withering leaves as they take life giving energy away from what needs to be nurtured. It is also important to feed the garden environment with healthy, nutrient-rich support and offer enough sunlight, warmth and water. In wellness practices, we weed out old patterns that zap us of our vitality and seek to replace these patterns of thought or behavior with fresh, new, more nourishing offerings. I am here to help you tend to the garden of your life.
Education
Lehigh University, Bachelor of Arts, 2002
NYU, Silver School of Social Work, Masters in Social Work, 2012
Experience
Two Chairs Behavioral Health Group, Oakland, CA
Women’s Therapy Center, Berkeley, CA
San Quentin State Prison, San Quentin, CA
Martinez VA Medical Center, Martinez, CA
Expertise
Anxiety
Depression
Grief and Loss
Gender, Sexuality, and LGBTQIA+ Identity
Life Transitions
Adoption
Relationship Issues
Addiction, Co-Dependency and Recovery
Perfectionism and Imposter Syndrome
Stress Management
On “Nectarine”:
I chose the name Nectarine based on the concept of Nectar as Medicine, inspired by Artist Kim Krans’ oracle deck and Carl Jung's Archetypes.
According to Krans, Hindu mythology acknowledges "a substance known as amrit, or nectar that contains infinite healing power, known to activate subtle intelligent forces that ease the mind, body and spirit." The idea that this magical medium can assist in our nourishment and help to bring us back to life is the inspiration for Nectarine (which means "nectar-like.") I believe that when we tend to our own garden, and have solid support in doing so, we can access a natural loving essence, a healing nectar that exists within us all!