Hi, I'm Paula.
I am a psychotherapist in private practice, (a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker).
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​For over a decade, I have helped clients who suffer from depression and anxiety, relationship strife, self doubt and the despair that results from living in a society that worships perfection, productivity, rigidity and restriction.
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My passion is working with those who suffer from years of dieting, disordered eating, food obsession, internalized weight stigma and body hatred.
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ABOUT ME
ABOUT ME
I am licensed to practice clinical social work in California, Washington DC, Virginia, and Maryland.
I am a playful, creative, permission-based, relational therapist.
I draw from liberation, somatic, and expressive arts, as well as transpersonal, queer and eco-psychologies. I work mainly with young people, adults, members of the LGTBQIA+ community, couples, and anyone hoping to gain freedom and expansion in their internal experience.
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I treat clients suffering from body and food issues with Body Justice-focused, weight neutral, anti-diet approaches.
I am a member of The International Association of Eating Disorders Professionals, the National Association of Social Workers and the California Society for Clinical Social Work.
For a decade I was a professor of Weight & Society at George Washington University. It was a body justice course that explored the myths of current measures of health, our culture's thin idealism, and society's relentless oppression of large bodies.
EDUCATION
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San Francisco State University, Bachelors in Psychology
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Hunter College School of Social Work, Masters in Social Work
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Registered Yoga Teacher, 2003
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Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker, 2011
LICENSES
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LCSW, California
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LICSW, Washington DC
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LCSW, Virginia
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LMSW, Maryland
EXPERIENCE
After teaching yoga full time in DC for over a decade, I completed a Master's Degree in Social Work in New York City.
I then moved back to Washington DC where I worked as an addictions counselor in an Outpatient Substance Abuse clinic, continuing to teach group and private yoga sessions all over the DC area, and providing workshops on Yoga & Healing Body Hate. I received my license to practice privately in 2013.
Since then, I've completed extensive trainings in such modalities as Internal Family Systems and Psychic Healing.
SPECIALTIES
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Food, Eating, & Body Hatred
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LGBTQIA+
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Depression & Anxiety
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Relationship Issues
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Spiritual/Energy healing
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Trauma
CONTACT ME
I moved home to California!
Until I find a new office here,
I am currently providing only virtual sessions.
PHONE
202.215.8356