Meet Kayla,
A Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Kayla (she/her) has worked in community mental health as well as private practice supporting clients of all ages and backgrounds. After earning a bachelor’s degree at Pitzer College in cultural anthropology and Spanish, she completed a Master’s in Social Work from USC, focusing on play therapy and intimate partner violence.
A dedicated, compassionate therapist who makes each individual in her care feel safe and held, Kayla draws on her skills and insight to provide rich healing experiences and supportive practical tools to her clients.
Kayla’s Specialties:
Kayla specializes in working with emerging adults (adults between the ages of 18-40) experiencing depression or anxiety. She uses her training in psychodynamic psychotherapy to help them explore and understand themselves better, to locate the blocks holding them back and to shift those blocks to encourage long-lasting change. She also brings a suite of practical tools to support the execution and deepen the positive effect.
She also specializes in Child and Family work, using her training in DIR/Floortime, the NeuroRelational Framework and Play Therapy to help children and their parents develop essential skills that provide a foundation for development and success later in life.
Professional Background:
Her career began through providing supportive services to adults with disabilities and later working in foster homes with teens. Seeing the need and feeling a lack of skills to support, she decided to pursue her Master’s in Social Work at USC. During that time, she worked at the Children’s Law Center, advocating for cross-over youth (youth in foster care as well as in the juvenile delinquency system).
She has been trained in DIR/Floortime at the Child Development Institute, working to enhance development in children and support families. There she learned Reflective Practice and how to incorporate Trauma-Informed Care. She also was under the supervision of and trained in Psychodynamic Psychotherapy by Dr. Michelle Harwell. She is NeuroRelational Framework informed, using their science-backed nervous system lens to make illuminating assessments and provide researched based care for adults, children and families.
Personal Interests:
An avid participant in Pilates classes, Kayla is dedicated to the connection between breath, body and mind that this exercise regimen provides. She often winds down at the end of the day by cooking a meal to share with family and friends. She is devoted to her indoor plants, and got a small fluffy dog during the COVID lock-down and has been enamored ever since.
