About Me
I am a Native New Mexican and have been a pediatric occupational therapist in our state for nearly a decade, graduating with my masters from UNM. My journey began in a pediatric outpatient clinic, where I worked with children on various developmental challenges. While this work was fulfilling, I recognized something was missing in the therapeutic approach.
My Professional Journey
The Transition to Early Intervention
After a couple of years, I transitioned to Early Intervention, which allowed me to work with families in their homes. This shift was transformative—I realized I was missing that important connection of working more closely with parents within their natural environment. Being in families' homes revealed something crucial: parents were struggling with their own regulation while trying to co-regulate and calm their children.
Recognizing the Missing Piece
Over years of home visits, I observed a pattern: parents worked tirelessly to meet their child's chaos with calm, but staying regulated themselves seemed nearly impossible and deeply frustrating. I came to understand that parents are often a 'missed demographic' in community services—they receive support during pregnancy, birth, and early lactation, but then the focus shifts entirely to their children, leaving their needs unaddressed.
The Gap in Traditional Therapy
I always knew that magical one-hour weekly sessions with me weren't what truly supported a child or their family. For lasting change, parents needed to understand regulation for themselves, apply it to their child's unique needs, and integrate these approaches across all family environments.
"Parents are often a 'missed demographic' in the community that is rarely offered services and supports for themselves after prenatal, birth, or lactation supports."
This realization led me to develop an approach that focuses first on empowering parents with knowledge about their own nervous systems, creating a foundation for sustainable change throughout the family unit.
My Core Philosophy
I believe that true change in a child's behavior and development starts with the parent's understanding of their own nervous system. By teaching parents about self-regulation through a sensory and neuroscience lens, I help them develop tailored supports for their unique needs.
This approach recognizes that each family member has a distinct sensory profile and nervous system response. When parents understand their own patterns, they can better support their children and create environments that promote regulation for everyone in the family.
Where Professional Meets Personal
When I became a parent myself, I experienced firsthand the full complexities of balancing work, friendships, self-care, relationships, and the demands of parenting. The question became clear: How does anyone manage all of this without becoming overwhelmed?
Then, add sensory processing challenges and spirited personalities to the mix, and parenting quickly becomes overstimulating and dysregulating, leaving many families in chronic survival mode. My personal experience deepened my professional understanding and fueled my passion for supporting parents in this journey.
My Mission
This personal and professional journey has crystallized my mission: to teach sensory neuro-wise parenting and self-regulation skills so parents can model and teach these vital life skills to their children. When parents understand and love their own brains, they empower their children to embrace their authentic selves—understanding, loving, and caring for their mental health.