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About Erika
The path I took to get here is a large part of what shapes how I work.
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Before becoming a therapist, I had a career in law. It was intellectually demanding work that taught me a great deal about high-pressure environments, the cost of sustained stress, and what it looks like when someone is holding a great deal together on the outside while something more complicated is happening underneath.
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My decision to become a therapist grew from a longer process of reflection about what I actually wanted my life to be about, a question I had been circling since my years studying philosophy as an undergraduate. That experience of honest self-examination, and what it takes to act on it, informs how I work with clients today.
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I work with thoughtful, high-achieving people who are successful by most external measures but feel privately disconnected, stuck, or uncertain about what they actually want. I also work with writers and creative professionals navigating the particular demands of a life built around creative work in Los Angeles.
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I have a specialized practice working with LGBTQ+ individuals and couples, particularly those building or expanding their families. As a queer parent myself, I bring both personal and professional understanding to this work.
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My approach draws on Jungian and depth psychology. I tend to work in a way that is warm and exploratory rather than prescriptive, creating space for the kind of reflection that is hard to find in the middle of a demanding life. Many of my clients are people who are rarely given permission to not have the answer. That permission is something I take seriously.
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Clinically, my background includes work at UCLA's Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior, where I served on the Physician and Faculty Wellness Committee and COVID-19 Mental Health Workgroup, and led workshops on burnout, resilience, and stress management for faculty, physicians, and healthcare professionals. Prior to that, I provided LGBTQ+ affirmative care at a private integrative psychiatry practice and at Women's Clinic Counseling Center, now known as Open Paths.
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If you are looking for a therapist who will take your inner life as seriously as you take everything else, I hope you will reach out.
Selected Presentations and Media
Graduate Medical Education Committee (GMEC) Lecture on Physician Wellness
Interview on overcoming shame in the LGBTQ+ community for Social Work Today, Vol. 23 No. 2
Resiliency for Healthcare Professionals 6-week Training for Surgery Residents
Wellness in the Medical-Legal Environment Lecture at UCLA
Crisis Management Training for Pediatric Chief Residents
Litigation Stress and Support Lecture to UCLA Opthamology Faculty
Cognitive Decline Caregiver's Support Group for UCLA Faculty
Medical Staff Health Committee Member 2018-2021