At Pacific Beach Health, Kristen accepts adults for individual therapy sessions to address substance, mood, thought, behavior, and personality disorders. Kristen believes in enhancing personal autonomy and self-determination to create a safe and non-judgmental space for self-exploration. When someone attempts to suppress unwanted thoughts, feelings, or memories, they only get worse. Kristen understands that, by taking time to explore our inner workings, stop what doesn’t work, and move towards what does, a healthy, authentic self will emerge.
Kristen is an Associate Clinical Social Worker in California. She earned a master’s degree in Clinical Social Work from Rutgers University and a bachelor’s degree in Special Education from Rowan University. Kristen worked with multidisciplinary children for several years. She provided behavioral and educational modifications based on individualized education plans to meet each student’s specific needs. Kristen also provided services to promote public safety with New Jersey state offenders. She achieved this goal by targeting top criminogenic need areas and providing individualized treatments, including relapse prevention, anger management, domestic violence treatment, and life skills.
For the past four years, Kristen provided individual therapy and outpatient substance use treatment services in the San Diego area. She now works as a primary therapist at Boardwalk Recovery Center. She provides individual, group, and family therapy to men with substance use, mood, thought, and personality disorders. Throughout her experiences, Kristen cultivated a humanistic perspective that emphasizes strengths and evidence-based interventions. Kristen follows principles of progressive leadership, including cultivating feelings of unity, creating a visionary hope, and inspiring individuals to act by instilling personal power, commitment, and collaboration practices. Kristen integrates motivational interviewing, cognitive-behavioral therapy, relapse prevention, crisis intervention, dialectical behavioral therapy, rational emotive behavioral therapy, and acceptance commitment therapy.
