Blazing trails since 1988.

I am a survivor.

My father abused me when I was a child. I spoke out about it. The backlash was incredibly painful.

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…

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 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 the F out of Heaps, UCLA, and UC as a whole.

Over 500 survivors came forward. I was one of the first.

John and his partners invited me to testify before 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 sexual assault and institutional betrayal. I’m here with offer heartfelt consistency, stability, trust and safety.

Along the way, I built the skills I needed to support others.

I studied psychology as an undergrad and published 13 peer-reviewed research articles about at-risk trauma survivors building self-efficacy and community as a way to seek out higher education. I learned the neurobiology of trauma, and the ways safety and trust shape recovery. I’ve taken courses: Healing Sexual Trauma; Restorative & Transformative Justice; and The Neurobiology of Trauma.

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

Everything I do now comes from a mix of lived experience, education, trauma-informed practice, and years supporting survivors who were silenced, ignored, or dismissed.

I’ve got your back.