Speaking out against abuse and neglect since I was 18 years old.

I was a tenacious, bold, caring, curious, smart, and full-of-wonder little girl. I’m so relieved the abusers didn’t rob me of these traits.

I was abused by my father and neglected by a family system that didn’t protect me. When I was 18, I called out my father.

It was at a time when there weren’t many survivors speaking out. It was terrifying. I reached out to a trauma-informed therapist at that time, in 1988, when there weren’t many of them around.

And then, after almost a decade of healing, in 1998, Dr. James Heaps sexually assaulted me. Twenty years later, I found out that women were filing legal complaints against Heaps. I sobbed for hours.

Will I have a chance at justice??? Will I be believed???

I called John Manly, Esq., a world-renowned sexual assault attorney who worked with Nassar victims and sued the Catholic Church and won.

I told him I had filed a complaint with the Medical Board against Heaps in 1998.

And THEN, all of my handwritten documents were discovered in the rafters of someone’s garage: my complaint recounting what Heaps did to me, the California Medical Board contact’s name, my medical chart. I sued Heaps, UCLA, and the UC Regents.

Over 500 survivors came forward, and I was one of the first (possibly the first).

John Manly and his partners invited me to address the California Senate to help lift the statute of limitations for hundreds of survivors. The bill passed unanimously with bipartisan support.

University of California settled $700 million in cases against Heaps.

Today, I coach survivors navigating the aftermath of various forms of trauma and encourage survivors to tap into their essence and develop deep self-trust and internal ease.

I studied psychology as a returning undergrad and the first to graduate college in my family. As an undergrad, I co-published 13 peer-reviewed research articles about at-risk trauma survivors building self-efficacy and community by way of a gardening program.

I led expressive-writing groups for trauma survivors at Planned Parenthood. I’ve worked with veterans; survivors who used substances to manage trauma; at-risk, trauma survivor students; and trauma survivors 1:1 and in groups. I’ve spoken publicly, on podcasts and national media stages about sexual abuse and institutional betrayal.

Everything I do now comes from a mix of education, trauma-informed practice, and intuitive and energetic connection.