About me
I come to this work with a deep respect for the complexity of human experience and the ways people make meaning in life, and being a psychologist is a role I hold with such honor and care. My work and my life have been shaped by the communities I belong to and the people I’ve met along the way. I’ve spent years working in Kenya and Alaska collaborating with local mental health professionals and learning from cultures where healing is collective, not isolated. I’ve also witnessed the quiet power of the surf and ocean therapy community, where connection with the water and with each other becomes its own kind of embodied healing. These experiences changed how I understand trauma, resilience, identity, and connection. They also taught me that therapy isn’t just about the individual but the cultures and worlds we belong to.
Having experienced panic disorder and existential anxiety intimately, I know how disorienting it can feel to reach for meaning when everything seems uncertain. During those times, I was held by my various communities including family, friends, and others in the mental health and healing spaces, and those relationships taught me how essential support is when we’re navigating the hardest parts of being human.
In my life, I’m drawn to nature, movement, learning, creativity, and anything that helps me feel grounded and connected to myself and the world. I enjoy reading and journaling, yoga, surfing, traveling, and any form of creative arts and expression, and find they are all avenues for further self-reflection and becoming.
Professional Background
Caitlin is a licensed clinical psychologist (PSY36458) and completed her PhD in Clinical Psychology at Alliant International University (California School of Professional Psychology) in San Diego. She has trained in community mental health, outpatient clinics, and rural settings, providing therapy to clients with diverse cultural identities, spiritual backgrounds, gender identities, and lived experiences. She is trained in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), relational and psychodynamic therapies, and has completed basic training in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR). She has also had training in Somatic psychotherapy to integrate mind-body healing into her practice. Caitlin is passionate about serving multicultural and international communities. She has experience working with immigrant and refugee populations, undocumented individuals, and Tribal communities. She spent several years collaborating on community development and mental health work in Mombasa, Kenya, and completed an APA-accredited internship at a Tribal Health Organization in Alaska, providing services to Alaska Native communities in the Aleutian Islands. She is experienced in using interpreters to serve clients who may not have access to providers in their preferred language. She welcomes open conversations about cultural differences and shared understanding and feels honored to build meaningful relationships with clients whose worldviews differ from her own.