I am a licensed psychotherapist and a licensed physician. I began my career as a primary care pediatrician at the University of California, San Francisco after 2 years of volunteer global health relief work with Doctors Without Borders. My own mindfulness meditation practice led me to additional training in a range of mind-body modalities, followed by fellowship training in Integrative Medicine at the Andrew Weil Center for Integrative Medicine in 2005. I then left primary care and started Pediatric Integrative Medicine services at the UCSF Osher Center for Integrative Health, with a focus on pain management and general integrative medicine consultations. Throughout this time, I was drawn to developing deeper, longer-term relationships with the patients and families I worked with. In 2012, I completed a master’s degree in Clinical Psychology at the Wright Institute, followed by a three-year psychotherapy internship at the San Francisco Psychotherapy Research Group, working with adults, families, and children. 

In my pediatric Integrative Medicine and Pain Clinic practices at UCSF, I work with children, teens, and young adults with a range of chronic and complex medical issues including gastrointestinal disorders, autoimmune conditions, chronic pain from a variety of conditions, and others. The Integrative Medicine model considers the health of an individual in the context of a variety of factors that influence our health and how we approach taking care of ourselves. These factors include things like the food we eat, our physical environment, the coping skills we learn, physical activities/capabilities, our social and family relationships and supports, and others. Any treatment recommendations are made in the service of mutually agreed upon goals and are evidence-informed - guided by evidence for efficacy as well as safety. Generally, more attention is paid to gaps in current care or approaches to health goals where there is higher need or higher likelihood of benefit and that are consistent with individual and/or family preferences. This may mean recommendations for traditional medical consultations or treatments, or non-traditional approaches or providers. Collaboration with other providers is often sought and always welcomed.