I am a late-diagnosed autistic individual with lived experience of OCD. Having relied on exposure therapy throughout my life, I stumbled upon a lesser-known European therapy that transformed my OCD into a subclinical condition. This transformative experience sparked my passion for Inference-based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (I-CBT), becoming one of its pioneering adopters in the United States.

As the founder and director of Zen Psychological Center, my work focuses on the supervision, training, and dissemination of I-CBT, particularly in the context of neurodiversity. I established the I-CBT Online Learning program, a self-paced platform designed to educate clinicians on neuroaffirmative therapies. I am so an instructor at the Cognitive Behavior Institute, enhancing the professional community’s understanding of I-CBT through live training sessions. My dedication to advancing this field is further demonstrated by my membership in the International OCD Foundation and by authoring the first workbook on I-CBT.

I also specialize in conducting autism evaluations for adults in Maryland and am an affirming therapist in Pathological Demand Avoidance/Persistent Drive for Autonmy (PDA), leveraging my personal and professional expertise to recognize and address demand avoidance in therapy.

Being a neurodivergent woman who often went unnoticed, I was compelled to conform to a world that wasn’t designed with me in mind. The sting of rejection sensitivity fostered narratives of inadequacy and abandonment, or grappled with the insidious impact of internalized ableism, which  drove my perfectionistic compulsions tendencies led me to mask my true self. This masking, done without my awareness, contributed to obsessive thoughts about my identity and my place in society.

When working together, there are a few things to expect.  I will be able to recognize your demand avoidance probably before you can. My therapeutic approach is carefully tailored to ensure it does not overwhelm the nervous system, allowing you to maintain autonomy throughout the session. If you are looking for a compliance treatment, approach I may not be the best therapist for you.  I also believe that Black Lives Matter and work from an anti-oppressive and anti-capitalism lens.

Other areas I work with in addition to OCD and Autism are LGBTQ issues, ADHD, chronic illnesses related to neurodivergency, PANDAS/PANS, chronic Lyme disease, ADHD, social anxiety, phobias, BFRB’s trauma. The therapies that I utilize are Inference-based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Exposure and Response Prevention Therapy, Internal Family Systems and Somatic therapy.