Brenda is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with over 25 years of experience working with children, adults and families. She has worked in a variety of settings including preschools for children with emotional needs, a runaway teen center, and an in-home counseling program for children with trauma and attachment issues. She is also Certified Positive Discipline Trainer, and often use the Principles of Positive Discipline and Adlerian Psychology in her clinical work.
Brenda received a Master’s in Counseling from San Diego State University and a B.A. from Rutgers University in NJ. Her experience includes over 10 years as a clinical supervisor. She has also taught Reflective Supervision at the graduate level with SDSU Dept of Early Childhood Education, with specific focus on children age 0-5. She also has a certification in Nutrition and Integrative Medicine for Mental Health, and uses a holistic, whole body approach to diagnosis and treatment.
Brenda’s approach to treatment is a combination of systems theories, developmental psychology, integrative psychology, and attachment theory. She believes that relationships are the fabric that hold us together as people. This can be one’s relationship with themselves, as with Internal Family Systems. It also includes parent – child relationships and larger system connections to our communities and our sense of Belonging. Brenda’s work is focused on improving these connections and helping clients create more nurturing, respectful relationships with themselves and with others.