About
Hello, I’m Alicia.
-
-
CA Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist #136816
CA Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor #14483
Board Certified Art Therapist #20-261
Certified IFS Therapist #CSL-0877
IFS Approved Clinical Consultant
IFS Level 3 trained at IFS Institute -
Certified IFS Therapist #CSL-0877
IFS Levels 1, 2, and 3 trained
Master’s-level specialization in Art Therapy Psychology
IFS Approved Clinical Consultant
-
Certified IFS Therapist #CSL-0877
IFS Approved Clinical ConsultantIFS Institute Trainings
Level 1 with Mary Kruger, LMFT, and Jory Agate, LMFT - December 2020Level 2 Deepening and Expanding with Pamela Krause, LCSW, and Jim Andralis, LCAT - March 2021
Level 3 with Richard Schwartz, PhD, and Alexia Rothman, PhD - March 2022
IFS Program Assistant for assisting IFS Institute Trainings
Level 1 with Pamela Krause, LCSW; and Jory Agate, LMHC, MDiv - August 2021Level 2 Deepening and Expanding with Pamela Krause, LCSW; Tamala Floyd, LCSW; and Kim Paulus, LMFT - May 2022
Level 2 A Compassionate Approach to Addictive Processes: Addictions and Eating Disorders with Cece Sykes, LCSW; and Kim Paulus, LMFT - February 2023
Level 1 with Jory Agate, LMHC, MDiv; Lauren Spaulding, LMFT, LPC; Michael Fitzgerald, LMFT - May 2025
Clinical Consultation, Guidance, and Mentorship (Individual and/or Group formats)
Paul Ginter, EdD - IFS Lead Trainer
Kirsten Lundeberg, LPC, LMFT - IFS Lead Trainer
Nancy L. Morgan, PhD, LPC - IFS Assistant Trainer
Mariel Pastor, LMFT - IFS Lead Trainer -
National Board Certified Art Therapist (ATR-BC) with the Art Therapy Credentials Board (ATCB)
Areas of art therapy focus and additional training include trauma, neuroscience, the Expressive Therapies Continuum (ETC) framework, Gestalt art therapy, Narrative therapy, and creative externalization within the IFS model
-
IFS Institute Annual Conference 2022 Pathways to Parts and Self: Creative Externalization Beyond Mapping, presented with Marianne Turley, LMFT
Case Presentation “Wren’s journey through the brambles toward the Here and Now: A Gestalt approach to trauma in a school setting”
Guest Lectures/Teaching
• Considerations for Working with Children via Telehealth, NDNU Practicum and Seminar I/II Graduate Course GPY4365/70
• Introduction to Internal Family Systems, NDNU Trauma and Art Therapy Treatment Graduate Course GPY440019th Annual Graduate Interdisciplinary Conference poster session: Exploring pathways toward psychobiological safety through mindful body-centered art making
-
Book excerpt and artwork in Backos, Amy K. (2021). Post-traumatic stress disorder and art therapy, pp. 142-144. Jessica Kingsley Publishers.
Dabney, A.L. (2019). Exploring pathways toward psychobiological safety through mindful body-centered art making with women experiencing homelessness (Master’s thesis). Notre Dame de Namur University, 2020, 158. ProQuest OpenAccess publication number 22587302.
-
California Association of Marriage and Family Therapists (CAMFT)
American Art Therapy Association (AATA)
Experience
It has been an honor to work in many settings with children, adolescents, and adults of various identities, circumstances, and life experiences.
Verdant Counseling & Psychotherapy, Owner / Psychotherapist / Clinical Consultant – 2023 to present
IFS Telehealth Collective, Psychotherapist – 2021 to 2023
Soul Centric Counseling, Psychotherapist – 2020 to 2022
IFS Institute, Program Assistant staff supporting various Level 1 and 2 trainings provided by IFS Institute – 2021 to present
IFS-Informed Process Groups, Co-Leader with Karla Amanda Brown, LMFT at Soul Centric Counseling – 2021-2022
NDNU International Multicultural Service Work – Study Abroad Summer 2019
Community engagement, art therapy and trauma support for Nicaraguan refugees in Costa Rica, hosted by Universidad Internacional de las Américas (UIA)
Art Therapy service project in Wokingham, UK, hosted by Evendons Primary School
Practicum and Post-Degree Internship, Beechwood School via Acknowledge Alliance, K-8 School Counselor in an historically marginalized community – 2019-2021
Fieldwork, Studio Art Group Leader at LifeMoves, an organization providing interim housing and supportive services to unhoused individuals/families – 2018-2019
Training Highlights
IFS Continuity Program ongoing learning that deepens knowledge and skills of IFS through special topics, guest presenters, and case consultation - 2020 to present
Effective Compassion: IFS Interventions for Healing Trauma and Addictive Cycles with Cece Sykes, LCSW at Life Architect - 2025
Appreciating Extreme Parts in Context: IFS, Food, and the Body with Jeanne Catanzaro, PhD and Sand Chang, Phd - 2025
Creative Consultation for Psychedelic Healing using art therapy in preparation and integration with Alyssa Gursky, LPC - 2024
Intent, Impact, and Intercultural Competence with Jory Agate, LMHC, and Fatimah Finney, LMHC - 2023
Introduction to Psychedelics for IFS Practitioners with Nancy L. Morgan, PhD - 2022
Somatic IFS for Chronic Pain with Susan McConnell, CHT - 2022
IFS in Groups with Chris Burris, LPC, LMFT and Jory Agate, LMHC - 2021
Trauma and IFS Masterclass with Janina Fisher, PhD - 2021
Engaging the Whole Person, Working Toward Authenticity and Understanding in the Clinical Practice of LGBTQ Clients with Missy Satterberg, PhD, LMFT, ATR-BC and Zara Drapkin, LCSW - 2020
Mindful Resilience Training (MRT) Trauma-Informed Yoga Teacher Training with Veterans Yoga Project - 2018
Better Practices in Art Therapy with Dissociative Spectrum Disorders with Cynthia Wilson, PhD, ATR-BC - 2018
Why I Became a Therapist
I am deeply passionate about supporting others in healing their wounds. I love witnessing clients in those early stages of therapy as they begin to notice subtle shifts and changes, eventually progressing from feeling stuck or broken to feeling a sense of freedom and wholeness in who they are and how they navigate life.
As is true for many in healing and helping professions, our own difficult experiences can lead us to this work. Doing my own work with a skilled and Self-led IFS therapist, along with continual learning and professional training, enables me to show up with presence, integrity, attunement, and curiosity to support my clients.
Professional Interests
Areas of additional interest and learning include somatic IFS, mindfulness, spirituality, and psychedelic integration. My academic studies and research have focused on trauma, collective trauma, somatic approaches, and neuroscience.
During my Practicum training, I began exploring the intersection of art therapy with the externalizing approach within the IFS model. Over the years I have continued to expand upon this, having offered workshops at the IFS Annual Conference, in small process groups, and to participants in IFS Level 1 trainings when serving as a Program Assistant. My parts artwork has been shared at the IFS Annual Conference, at an IFS retreat with Dick Schwartz at 1440 Multiversity, and during select IFS Level 1 and 2 trainings when I have been on staff as a Program Assistant.
Creative Work
Although my career is now centered in psychotherapy, I will always consider myself an artist. My training includes fine art, printmaking, metalwork jewelry, and communication design—a melding of communication theory, marketing, and Gestalt principles of graphic design. In my fifteen years as a graphic designer, I created print and package designs for Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab and art media brands such as Prismacolor, Pentalic, Strathmore, Arches, M. Graham, and ProArt.
Things I Love
Thunderstorms, cooking and “soup season”, fancy grilled cheese and wine tasting parties, Gen X humor and nostalgia of the 80s, iced coffee (yes, even in winter), autumn, the full moon, psychological thrillers and mysteries, contemporary dance, hand embroidery, BPAL fragrances, reading.
Fun Facts
As an adolescent I had a lofty goal to read every book in my small hometown library. I am left-handed, an introvert, and a past fire performer/dancer. I have highly vivid dreams and a somewhat dark sense of humor. My metalwork and gemstone jewelry designs have been worn by characters on the hit TV shows Vampire Diaries, This is Us, and Bones.
Reconnecting to my Self
Nature, creativity, and movement are the most reliable ways for me to find clarity, calm my nervous system, and access Self energy. Most of the time, this takes the form of walking or spending time outside, preferably amidst tall trees and running water where I can slow down and just be. Yet even the simplest sensory details can bring me back to Self: clouds scattered across a vibrant sky, the glow of the moon, soft new growth on plants, fragrant blooms, wildlife, birdsong, the tree tops dancing with the wind.
I enjoy walking in nature, exploring and experiencing new places, connecting with others, gardening, and savoring life’s simple pleasures. I am a foodie at heart and hold lifelong identities as a learner, artist, and dancer.
“Isn't it odd. We can only see our outsides, but nearly everything happens on the inside.”
— CHARLIE MACKESY, “THE BOY, THE MOLE, THE FOX AND THE HORSE”
