Living through an illness can change your life in numerous ways. People may respond to you differently, or they may treat you the same when you feel completely different. You may look exactly the same but feel different inside, or your physical appearance may have changed in ways that you wouldn't have chosen.

You may be coping with residual effects from your illness, such as pain, fatigue, cognitive changes, and sleep disturbance. You might feel like your family and friends don't understand you, or that you can't connect in the same way.

It's a major life change to experience an illness, whether or not it is resolved or ongoing. Finding a way to integrate the medical issue into your life, while still honoring that you are so much more than your health issues, can be a challenging but important task. 

I have worked in the field of health psychology since my early training days, and continue to specialize in this area. I facilitate support groups for women with breast cancer and with ovarian cancer. I have been on medical staff at San Mateo Medical Center, and trained at UCSF AIDS Health Project and Santa Clara Valley Medical Center.

It's my goal to be open to all conversations, to help my clients process whatever feelings and thoughts they may have, and to find a way to have a meaningful and complete life, regardless of their illness.