About Diana

As a clinical psychologist and expert in acceptance based and science backed approaches to living well, I help you find breathing room from your problems so you can build a rich and meaningful life.

It’s human to:

  • Have unhelpful thoughts
  • Experience unconfortable emotions and cravings
  • Get stuck in patterns and habits that don’t align with our values

In my practice, workshops, podcasts and mentoring, I use the combined tools of compassion and ACT to help you get unstuck and live more fully.

Because it’s through this connection and these tools that you can:

  • Accept and allow painful emotions so you can access the values underneath
  • Step back from your thoughts and learn to see your mind as an advisor, not your boss
  • Define what matters most to you, and take actions in that direction

ACT is powerful stuff.

I use it in my daily life – as a therapist, parent, partner, friend, and fellow human. And it’s made me more loving, more present, more compassionate, and more brave.

With ACT I feel more vitality and meaning where it matters most.

And I want you to experience that too.

My journey to ACT

 

When I was little and someone asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would say “a snail.” I liked that snails can move at their own pace and have their homes on their backs wherever they went. My ACT Journey has helped me find my home. I now live in the ACT processes of being present, accepting my vulnerabilities, and living out my values, and I carry them with me wherever I go. As you read My ACT Journey, you’ll see how these processes traveled with me.

Intrigued by the intersection of brain, body and behavior, I studied biopsychology (the physiology and neuroscience of behavior) as a premedical student at the University of California at Santa Barbara (UCSB). I also began practicing yoga and mindfulness to manage my struggles with anxiety and eating. I then pursued a Ph.D. in clinical psychology in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at University of Colorado at Boulder, and did my dissertation on Appetite-Focused Dialectical Behavior Therapy for Binge Eating with Purging under the mentorship of Dr. Debra Safer at Stanford School of Medicine. I completed a yearlong pre-doctoral internship in 2007 at University of California, Davis Counseling and Psychological Services (UC Davis CAPS) under the directorship of Dr. Kristee Haggins.

In 2008, I took a job as Clinical Director of La Luna Center (an intensive outpatient center for eating disorders that embraces feminine, and holistic, integrative approaches to healing) in the Northern Colorado branch. At La Luna Center, I designed the treatment program, built ACT groups, supervised doctoral students in ACT, and thrived in my work and personal life.

Motherhood shifted my perspective on most everything. With my values at the forefront, I left my beloved job as clinical director and moved back to Santa Barbara, to start a private therapy and consulting practice, raise my kids, and grow our homestead. In an effort to stay connected to the most current psychology research, I started a podcast called Psychologists Off the Clock with my friend and colleague, Dr. Debbie Sorenson in 2016.

My practice, workshop offerings, and podcast integrate everything I’ve learned thus far about what it takes to thrive as a human. I’ve discovered:

  • The richness in being present
  • The vitality in values-rich living
  • The necessity of perspective taking
  • The potential in acceptance
  • The freedom in stepping back from our thoughts
  • The kindness in committed action
  • The power of compassion

 

I hope you, too, can discover the power of ACT in building a rich and meaningful life.

Find out what kind of Striver you are...

and what you can do to Strive more skillfully!

1 / 9

Which striving statement best describes you?

2 / 9

Which of these would make you most satisfied?

3 / 9

Which of these would make you most dissatisfied?

4 / 9

Which of these states would you most like to avoid?

5 / 9

How would your friends describe you?

6 / 9

How do you respond when you are stressed?

7 / 9

Which characteristic do you most identify with?

8 / 9

When you are experiencing difficult emotions, how do you tend to respond?

9 / 9

Which statement best describes you?

Want more information about your Striver type and practical strategies to help you become a Skillful Striver?

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