As a primary therapist, Sam is responsible for meeting with clients individually, in groups, and with family or supportive others to help them navigate the emotional/mental/physical aspects of eating disorder recovery. Sam earned their master’s degree in marriage and family therapy from California State University, Northridge in 2018. After graduation, Sam began working as a group therapist and direct care staff with Alsana at their Santa Barbara location in 2019 and gradually worked up to being a primary therapist first at Santa Barbara and then with the Alsana Connect virtual team.

Sam is passionate about helping clients to challenge societal beauty and body standards through HAES (health at every size) and CFT (compassion focused therapy) principles. Sam also feels passionate about her work with queer identifying and neurodivergent clients and helping them to understand the connection between these identities and their experience in their eating disorder.

In her free time, Sam enjoys spending time with her Corgi (Barbie) and cat (Sirius), watching Bravo reality tv, reading fiction, and going to pinball arcades with her husband. Sam’s greatest hope for clients’ recovery is for them to find compassion for ALL parts of themselves and free themselves from the burden of diet culture and the “weight” (pun intended) of societal expectations.