Meet Lisa Marie

I am stone-cold serious about leisure. I'm obsessed with crafting the good life. You might say I'm a bit type A about fun. I use spreadsheets to outline prospective travels and my Google map is littered with stars indicating must-see road trip destinations. While existential dread and FOMO (fear of missing out) help shape this obsession, I’m also driven by the love of all that is beautiful, awe-inspiring, and delightful in this oftentimes banal, brutal, and unfair life. My hope is that we can sit with this paradox together.

My work with you is likely to be informed by my love of nature and training in ecotherapy. An avid hiker, my favorite mode of transportation are my own two feet. I enjoy ambling through forests alone, communing with trees and fungi, and taking neighborhood walks with loved ones. While I am thrilled by strenuous activities, e.g. long hikes with massive elevation gains, I also value stillness and rest. Natural hot springs, floating on inner tubes in rivers and lakes, and laying on a chaise lounge in my backyard watching bugs crawl around the unmown grass are some of my favorite activities.

I practice Insight Meditation, also known as Vipassana. Mindfulness, that is paying attention to the present without judgment, contributes to a sense of equanimity, agency, and savoring in my life. My work is informed by my personal practice as well as training in Mindful Self Compassion, Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT).

In addition to being an avid traveler and nature lover, I am also a Santa Cruz native, obsessed auntie, avid thrift store shopper, houseplant tender, and champion bath soaker (not really but I would win if there was such a competition). I use she/her pronouns. I am a queer, cis, able bodied, white woman with European ancestry and whole heartedly welcome people of all races, ethnicities, abilities, sizes, gender, and sexual orientations to my practice. I live on the unceded territory of the Awaswas-speaking Uypi Tribe.

I received a BA in Psychology at UC Santa Barbara and a Master of Social Work at Cal State East Bay. I have worked in both non-profit community mental health and health care settings with people from a range of backgrounds, demographics, and presenting problems.

Areas of Specialization:

• LGBT issues

• Ecotherapy

• Mindfulness-based psychotherapy