“Liberation is what happens between people; not against, for or on behalf of others.” – Taiwo Afuape
Catherine is an AMFT #129997 (Associate Marriage and Family Therapist) who completed her master’s degree in counseling psychology (expressive arts therapy concentration) with the California Institute of Integral Studies in May, 2021.
To her trauma and attachment-informed individual and group expressive arts sessions she brings:
- anxiety reduction practices such as breathing, grounding, mindfulness and visualization/guided imagery
- expressive arts practices (music, visual, drama, movement/dance and literary/spoken word/poetry/songwriting)
- narrative therapy practices to transform problem-saturated stories (emotional freedom technique or EFT)
A native of the Milwaukee area, Catherine earned her bachelor’s degree in music therapy and music education from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. She has worked with children adolescents and adults as a music therapist in a wide variety of settings including schools, residential treatment centers, summer camps, short and long-term care facilities as well as in private practice.
Catherine enjoys bringing playful curiosity to the process of re-connecting with inner and outer resources to co-create possibilities for healing and integration. She draws from the postmodern frameworks of liberation psychology and person-centered therapy. Some of her professional influences are Taiwo Afupe, Helen Bonny and Natalie Rogers.
At CIIS, she has studied with expressive arts pioneers such as Armand Volkas (drama therapy) and Patricia B. Allen (art therapy). She has been mentored by person-centered expressive arts therapist Anin Utigaard who studied with Natalie Rogers. Catherine has also been practicing loving-kindness meditation and non-violent communication (NVC) for over 20 years.
Currently, Catherine is providing individual and family tele-therapy to children and teens at Daybreak Mental Health.
Catherine recently provided psychotherapy to children, teens, couples and adults through Sierra Therapy Center. Before that, Catherine worked at TalkSpace as a remote therapist under the clinical supervision of Anin Utigaard, LMFT, REAT (co-founder of IEATA.org). Before TalkSpace, at Granite Wellness, Catherine provided psychotherapy to adults (and their families) with substance use disorders during their inpatient treatment.
In her first AMFT role, Catherine provided child-centered play therapy to children, couples and families at Stanford Sierra Youth and families. As a trainee, Catherine provided individual and group counseling to adults through the Liberation Institute supporting queer clients with histories of trauma and online support groups for mothers. Before that she offered safety and stabilization practices to people going through mental health crises as a Crisis Peer Counselor.
She has also been a substitute teacher, singer-songwriter, recording artist and front-end website developer. As a culturally humble therapist in training, she accepts clients of all ages, abilities, beliefs, genders, sexual orientations, nationalities, immigration statuses, races and ethnicities at all stages of change. Read Catherine’s EXA Manifesto.