My Therapy Specialties
Anxiety is not random—it is a signal. Often, it reflects emotions, wishes, or internal conflicts that are trying to come into awareness but feel too overwhelming or threatening to experience fully.
When these feelings are kept out of consciousness, the mind relies on defenses, and anxiety can emerge as a result.
In therapy, we will work together to understand what your anxiety may be protecting you from. Rather than simply reducing symptoms, our focus will be on helping you safely access and process the underlying emotions driving your experience.
Over time, this deeper understanding can reduce the intensity of anxiety and allow you to feel more grounded, integrated, and in control of your inner world.
There are no words that can take away the pain of grief—and I won’t pretend there are. Instead, I offer a space where you don’t have to face that pain alone.
Together, we will sit with the darkness, gently exploring how your life and sense of self have been altered by loss. Grief is not something to “fix,” but something to understand, to carry, and—over time—to integrate.
In our work, we will look at how grief shows up in your daily life, how it shapes your relationships and identity, and how meaning can slowly emerge from even the most profound loss. This process is not about moving on, but about finding a way to move forward while honoring what has been lost.
After you click the button, you’ll be taken to our secure scheduling portal — scheduling an appointment only takes a few minutes.
As an immigrant therapist myself, I understand both the grief and the pride that come with leaving one world to survive in another. This experience is often layered and complex—carrying loss alongside resilience.
When I sit with other immigrants, I often recognize the unspoken weight we share: displacement, guilt, cultural loyalty, isolation, confusion, and the quiet loneliness of feeling as if you belong everywhere and nowhere at once.
In our work together, there is space for all of it—your story, your identity, and the parts of you that may feel unseen or difficult to express.
You shouldn't have to translate yourself to be understood.
I offer therapy in both English and Spanish — not just linguistically, but culturally. There are experiences that live in one language, in one version of you, that don't have a clean translation. In our work together, you won't have to find one.
I am a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor with six years of clinical experience working in both English and Spanish. I am a former college professor, President of the Minnesota Jungian Society, and a BBHT-approved supervisor.
My Work
Do you sense that parts of you are in conflict?
Outwardly capable. Inwardly unsettled. Carrying the weight of the past while trying to build something stable in the present.
If that sounds familiar, you're not alone — and you're in the right place.
Many of the people I work with are immigrants, first-generation professionals, or individuals navigating identity, trauma, and major life transitions. On the surface, things may look fine. But underneath, there's anxiety, pressure, disconnection — or a quiet sense that something deeper needs attention and has never quite had space to breathe.
This is not symptom management. It's something deeper.
My approach is insight-oriented and relational. That means we don't just work on what's bothering you on the surface — we work to understand why, tracing the patterns, beliefs, and experiences that have quietly shaped how you move through the world.
The areas I work with most are:
Trauma and its long aftermath
Anxiety, perfectionism, and the pressure to perform
Identity questions and self-discovery
The emotional weight of immigration — grief, cultural tension, family pressure, the complexity of living between worlds
Life transitions and the loss of who you thought you'd be by now
Our work is collaborative, unhurried, and paced to respect where you are. The goal isn't temporary relief. It's a lasting change — greater clarity, emotional steadiness, and the freedom to live more deliberately and authentically.
Who I work best with
My practice is designed for reflective, growth-oriented adults who are ready to move beyond coping and engage in real inner work. People who think deeply, feel things strongly, and sense there's more to who they are than their current life reflects.
As a first-generation immigrant and former philosophy professor, I bring a perspective shaped by both lived experience and rigorous training. I understand what it means to build an identity across cultures, to carry histories that don't fit neatly into one narrative, and to search for language that honors the full complexity of who you are.
Therapy is a conversation between your many selves.
Sombra means shadow. In Jungian thought, the shadow isn't something to fear — it's the part of you that holds what you haven't yet been able to look at. The grief you set aside to keep going. The version of yourself you left behind at the border, or at graduation, or in a relationship that changed you.
Our work together is an invitation to turn toward those parts — with curiosity, not judgment — and begin the conversation between the different shades of you.
Ready to begin? Book a complimentary 15-minute consultation.
After you click the button, you’ll be taken to our secure scheduling portal — scheduling an appointment only takes a few minutes.
What working with me is like
This is not talk therapy, where you vent and leave with coping tips. This is a space for depth — for the parts of you that haven't had room to breathe.
Depth, not coping
We trace patterns to their roots — not to assign blame, but to understand what has quietly shaped how you move through the world. We make sense of the darkness together.
No labels, no insurance limits
A diagnosis code or coverage limit doesn't decide your care. Our work is guided by your goals and the complexity of what you're carrying — nothing else.
Relational and real
I bring myself into the room. The relationship between us is not neutral — it's one of the most important tools we have.
Paced to respect you
Some clients work through a specific issue in a few months. Others choose longer-term depth work. There's no timeline imposed from the outside.
From the very first session, you'll notice this feels different. There's no rush to diagnose, no pressure to perform clarity you don't yet have. We begin exactly where you are — even if where you are is uncertain, overwhelmed, or quietly carrying something you've never said aloud.
"You won't need to translate yourself to be understood here."
Our work is unhurried and collaborative. I follow your lead while also bringing genuine curiosity about what lies beneath the surface — the patterns, the history, the parts of you in conflict. We'll work in English or Spanish, whichever language best carries your experience.
No two clients follow the same path, but most describe something like this:
01 You arrive as you are
No need to have it figured out. The first sessions are about getting to know each other — your history, what brings you in, and what you're hoping to find on the other side of this work.
02 We start to see the patterns
Slowly, what felt like chaos begins to make sense. Old decisions, recurring feelings, and relational dynamics reveal a logic — one we can work with rather than fight against.
03 The shadow begins to speak.
The parts of you that were set aside — grief, identity, unfinished versions of yourself — are invited into the conversation. With curiosity, not judgment. We turn toward the parts expressing pain, not to dwell there, but to understand them deeply enough to move beyond the patterns and beliefs that have kept you stuck—in how you see yourself and how you relate to others. We make sense of your shadow together.
04 Something lasting shifts
Clients often describe a quiet but unmistakable change — more clarity, more steadiness, a sense of finally living from the inside out rather than performing from the outside in.
The first step is a 15-minute conversation — no commitment, no paperwork.
After you click the button, you’ll be taken to our secure scheduling portal — scheduling a consultation only takes a few minutes.
Resources
Wondering if this therapy is right for you?
Download “A week of Turning Inward: A Guided 7-Day Practice” journal to start your self-discovery journey and discover how our work together could change your life.
Most journals ask you to write. This one helps you notice.
Rooted in depth psychology (not toxic positivity)
Designed to uncover patterns—not force change
Created by a licensed therapist
If this process resonates with you, therapy can offer a place to explore more deeply with support, structure, and care. Book your complimentary 15-minute consultation to discuss your goals.
Let's Work Together
Every journey starts with a single step. Reach out today for a complimentary 15-minute consultation and discover how we can help you achieve.
sombrapsychotherapy@gmail.com l (651)504-8114
Secure & Private HIPAA Compliant Video Therapy