About Me

Hi, my name is Mackenzie. I am a licensed therapist who has found her way out of cold and damp (but still beautiful) Oregon to sunny San Diego!

The most common word I’ve heard used to describe me and my style of therapy is “zen”. While no therapist can make any promises about therapeutic outcomes, I can promise that I will do my best to help you feel more calm and confident by the end of our time together.

One reason I am so passionate about using therapy, EMDR, and yoga with my clients is because I have personally experienced how helpful they were in my own healing journey from anxiety and childhood trauma. I have walked the walk with implementing these tools into my life, now I want to help others do the same.

Below you can find more about my education and work experience. But beyond my private practice, you will find me enjoying all the new lessons that come with being a new mom, at the beach with my dog Naia, cuddling my cat Wallaby, at the yoga studio, or trying all the new restaurants in San Diego.

My Credentials:

  • Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) #100581 in the state of California

  • Master’s in Social Work, San Diego State University, 2014

  • Bachelor’s in Psychology and Spanish, University of Oregon, 2012

Areas of Experience:

  • Children, Teens, Adults, and Families

  • Anxiety

  • Bipolar

  • Depression

  • Developmental Disabilities

  • Ketamine/psychedelic-Assisted Therapy

  • PTSD

  • Schizophrenia/Schizoaffective

  • Thoughts of Suicide

  • Trauma

Specialized trainings and Certifications:

  • EMDR Certified Therapist - 2020 Trained, 2025 EMDRIA Certified

  • Certified Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy Practitioner - Integrative Psychiatry Institute Year-Long Certification Program, 2024

  • EMDR Therapy Protocols for Early Intervention & Ongoing Traumatic Stress Training - ScalingUp, 2023

  • Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy - Module 1 training through Polaris Insight Center - 2021

  • Immigration Evaluation Training - The Immigration Evaluation Training Center, 2021

  • Certified 200-hour Hatha/Vinyasa Yoga Teacher - 2019

  • Certified Therapeutic Yoga Nidra Teacher - 2017

  • Certified Kids Yoga Teacher - 2017

  • PCIT (Parent-Child Interaction Therapy) Trained - 2016

More about my background and experience:

Some of my earliest experiences in the field of social services were working with youth experiencing substance addictions, and young children ages 2-7 in foster care. During graduate school, I worked with children and adolescents, elementary through high school, experiencing parental divorce or separation, and parental military deployments and other military stressors.

I moved to Australia for a year after completing graduate school where I volunteered with the Victoria Foster Care Association (as well as worked within the hospitality and food industry which I can honestly say were the hardest jobs I’ve ever had!). After leaving Australia, I returned to my home state of Oregon where I worked as a child and family therapist with children ages 2-18 who experienced a variety of challenges including depression, anxiety, behavioral challenges in school and at home, sexual and physical abuse, and other trauma. I was the office’s bilingual therapist and conducted family therapy sessions in Spanish.

Since returning to San Diego, I have had roles in many different settings working with: low-income and homeless families, children and adolescents at-risk of suicide or homicide, adolescents in residential treatment with developmental disabilities and severe mental health challenges, and was the lead clinician providing therapy for adults with severe mental illness (depression, anxiety, PTSD, etc.) at an outpatient medication management clinic. From 2021-2022, I helped in wrapping up a study at Sharp Mesa Vista Psychiatric Hospital working with young adults with psychosis and Schizophrenia. Presently in addition to my private practice, I am an Optum EAP Consultant contracted with VEBA California Schools to provide emotional wellbeing services to SD County school district employees, including one on one EAP consulting, trainings, and disruptive event management.