I identify as a Mangalorean woman (she/her/hers) with roots in in the Indian diaspora. I work as social work professor and practitioner, dedicated to creating more equitable, anti-oppressive, and justice-oriented spaces for your expression of freedom and healing. My work with clients combines 25 years of clinical trauma treatment and 20 years of teaching experience. My goal is to facilitate your understanding of yourself in your own life, to position yourself with regard to your ethnicity, race, gender, class, religion, and other significant identities you hold, so that you can live your life with greater peace and balance, in whichever environmental context you live in. As South Asian people, we come from varied histories of trauma and immigration/migration, and have experienced oppression and marginalization related to White supremacy, colonization, casteism, racism, patriarchy, and classism in the countries in which we live. Often we struggle with how to make meaning of these experiences. We may be influenced by friends, family narratives of culture, race, and identity. We live through these experiences but don’t always realize the connection between who we are, who we have been, and our sense of agency.

My areas of expertise include working with developmental and embodied trauma in children and adults, working with intergenerational issues relating to family of origin, immigration and acculturation, and any of the ways in which these experiences can show up and disrupt your daily life and relationships (symptoms of depression, anxiety, mood, stress, personality disorders, as well as trauma responses like rigidity, all or nothing thinking, self-sacrifice and self-sabotage). As complex as we all are, I know how difficult it can be to seek help, and how worthwhile an effort it is, to find someone who is culturally, intellectually, and emotionally a good fit to support your healing.