NCCEFT BOARD OF DIRECTORS

July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023

Tricia Walsh, LMFT, Chair 

Tricia Kim Walsh, LMFT, is a licensed marriage and family therapist who holds 13 years of experience in the mental health field. Her areas of specialty are trauma/PTSD, couples, family and group therapy, life transitions, grief and loss, self-exploration, anxiety, stress management, and depression disorders. Tricia held a successful private practice for over 10 years working with individuals, teens, families, and couples. She is currently based out of her Oakland private practice office. She has previously worked at Pleasant Hill Community Counseling Center, Oak Creek Counseling Center, and the Student Health Counseling Center of the California State University of East Bay and currently, the Mental Health Manager of the Life@ Wellness Center MPK281 in Menlo Park. She is a Certified Eye Movement Desensitization & Reprocessing Therapist and a Certified Emotionally Focused Therapist. She is currently co-facilitating virtual Hold Me Tight Workshops with her friend and colleague, EFT Supervisor-in-Training, Claudio Silva, LMFT. Tricia is a classically trained first soprano and loves singing in her church choir as well as singing for friends and families' social events. Tricia and her husband, Sean, just recently celebrated their 10 year anniversary and renewed their vows in Orlando, FL, on 07/09/2021 with their closest friends and family. Tricia loves to cook, travel, bike and has gotten back into BeachBodyDemand. Fun fact, she is a certified Open Water PADI Scuba Diver and did her training in Monterey, CA. She and her husband have two rescue kitties, Loke (8) and Mocha (6).

Claudio Vargas Silva, LMFT – Chair-Elect

Certified Emotionally Focused Therapist & Supervisor-in-Training Candidate 

Pronouns: He/Him/His      

Claudio Silva finished his master’s degree in 2010. He was trained in child centered play therapy (CCPT), Filial Therapy (FT), and EMDR. Claudio did the Emotionally Focused Therapy Externship and Core Skills in 2016 and became certified in 2019. Since then, he has been pursuing a certification as an EFT supervisor-in-training candidate. Most of his clients speak Spanish and Portuguese and many of them are Medi-Cal clients from San Mateo County. Claudio facilitates the Hold Me Tight workshop with Tricia Kim Walsh, LMFT and they recently started a podcast titled, "Thriving Your Love", which can be accessed through  video and audio. His specialty areas are couples, families, children of all ages, trauma, anxiety, and depression. Claudio continues to offer guest sermons, previously worked as a pastor, and was a piano teacher. He is frequently requested to perform at church events, birthdays and other celebrations.  He has one daughter and two stepchildren. He lives with his stepdaughter in San Jose.  

Raquel García, LMFT - CFO/Treasurer

Certified Emotionally Focused Therapist      

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers                                  

 Raquel Garcia is a LMFT from Spain, living in SF for almost 30 years She started her journey in EFT in 2017, and became certified in earlier in 2022. She has a private practice in SF, where she sees individuals, couples and families. She integrates somatic, attachment based and transpersonal practices in her work. Spirituality, nature, connection, creativity, are some of the aspects of this human experiences she holds as sacred.

Nicole Ohebshalom, LPCC, Ph.D Candidate, Director-at-Large

Nicole works with individuals and couples in the Bay Area and has found EFT as her theoretical home. She earned her master's at NYU and is currently gaining her doctorate at CIIS in human sexuality. She has done research in relationships and sexuality in Israel and the USA. Nicole often integrates EMDR and sex therapy with EFT work. She is currently working towards EFT certification. Nicole provides therapy in Farsi and English. 

 Dean Paquette, LMFT, Technology Coordinator 

Prior to becoming a therapist, Dean had a long career in the television and film industry with a side gig as a sea kayak instructor. He began his therapist journey as a student trainee at the Pacific Center for Human Growth, then as an Associate working with couples at the Bay Area Psychotherapy Institute (BAPTI). Currently, he works in private practice. He is trained in EFT and EMDR. The opportunities with these diverse populations are experiences he will carry into his position with NCCEFT. Dean's quiet time is spent with his Dalmatian/pointer Pixie and an ever-growing stack of books on the bedside table.

Olivia Provan, LMFT - Membership Coordinator

Certified Emotionally Focused Therapist 

Pronouns:She/Her/Hers                                      

Olivia is a certified EFT therapist working virtually from San Francisco. She works with both couples and individuals from an attachment perspective and founded Swipe the Right Way, an online workshop aimed at helping individuals apply attachment theory to their dating lives. In addition to EFT, Olivia is trained in Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, Brainspotting, and is beginning her training in sex therapy through CIIS. Olivia is passionate about mental health education and has worked as an adjunct professor at the University of San Francisco’s graduate school of clinical psychology and with the San Francisco Sheriff’s Department, developing and facilitating training for officers to educate them on mental illness and compassionate crisis response. In her free time, Olivia loves to travel, read fiction, cook, and practice yoga and pilates.

Peter Sadler, LMFT, Member-at-Large

Pronouns:He/Him/His

Peter Sadler is a LMFT in virtual private practice across California helping couples, individuals, and families build lasting bonds and meaningful lives. He has held positions in a variety of Bay Area organizations from schools and community clinics, to crisis lines and mediating community disputes with Community Boards. Peter also currently serves on the Board of Marin CAMFT. He lives in Marin with his wife and two young daughters, where he enjoys hiking, running and attempting to garden.

NCCEFT PROGRAM COMMITTEE

Elisa Lewis, LCSW, Program Committee Co-Chair/Program Committee Chair Elect 
                                                                         Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

I am an Oakland, California native, and Licensed as a Social Worker in California and Oregon.  I obtained my master’s in social work from California State University, East Bay.   I have been awarded the opportunity to work with some of the most culturally diverse people in the Bay Area.  I am a Social Justice Warrior with a deep passion for helping disenfranchised and underserved populations.  I started a small private practice, MOCHA Therapy Group with a friend and business partner.  I am newbie to EFT, completing Externship in 2021 and currently enrolled in Core Skills.  I have a 24-year-old son who is finding his way, as a Black man in America and a 5-year old fur baby named, Shirley.  When I am not working, you can catch me at the dog park, with family, or in Napa enjoying some of the finest wines Northern California has to offer.

Kelly Baker, LMFT, Program Committee Co-Chair

Pronouns: She/Her/Hers

Kelly, Licensed Marriage, and Family Therapist (she, her, hers) is the owner and founder of Onyx Trauma Healing Center, in a small group private practice in Hanford, California, the Executive Director of ExpreseArte Cultural Wellness Collective and adjunct faculty at Fresno Pacific University.  She spent the first twenty-five years of her career in public service, first in child welfare, 15 years in probation and parole, subsequently ending her career as Deputy Director of Kings County Behavioral Health. In March 2020, during the pandemic, Kelly transitioned into full-time private practice. Kelly is passionate about the physical and emotional benefits of mindful movement and creates opportunities for her clients to use their bodies to heal, grow and transform their chaos into clarity, confidence, and peace. Kelly’s practice approach is attachment-based, trauma-focused, and rooted in decolonizing mental health and wellness practices with a social justice framework. Kelly began studying and practicing EFT during her Externship with Dr. Silvina Irwin, studied EFIT with Laurie Brubacher and EFT consultation with Dr. Yamonte Cooper.  Kelly is currently in Core Skills with Dr. Paul Guillory.  She is learning so much from Core Skills including how to work with Black couples. In addition to EFT, Kelly is also trained in Brainspotting, Flash and is a certified yoga instructor. Kelly is the mother of 4 adult children and when she is not working, she loves to camp and travel throughout the United States in her RV. She is really excited to have an opportunity to serve the board and to become a more active member of the NCCEFT community.

Margaret Peterson, LMFT- Program Committee: Speaker Liaison

Certified Emotionally Focused Therapist and Certified Emotionally Focused Supervisor

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Margaret is a certified EFT therapist and supervisor in training who has been working in the field of mental health since 1979. Margaret began volunteering as the NCCEFT Hospitality Coordinator in 2013, holding that position for 3 years. She has been volunteering as the Speaker Liaison for the past 7 years, and resonates with being part of a close-knit community of like-minded and wonderful EFT clinicians. (If only more NCCEFT members knew how rewarding it can be to take on a volunteer role with the Board!) Margaret’s specialty is working with couples and families, and she has a passion for trauma-informed care and social justice. Understanding systemic oppression comes up often in her work and she is committed to dismantling racism and all other -isms in her practice and in her
life. Margaret lives in the East Bay with her beekeeper and hang-glider husband, with two grown children who have launched into their careers but are always up for coordinating schedules for a family get-away. Margaret also volunteers by conducting psychological evaluations for the Bay Area Asylum Mental Health Project of RIWW.org, and when not working, she can be found running with
her sweet running group, kayaking with her husband, reading, and always trying to get even a tiny bit better at the art of watercolor.

Julie Stevenson, LMFT- Program Committee: Registration Coordinator

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Julie is an LMFT specializing in Eating Disorder treatment as well as Emotionally Focussed Therapy for couples. She has completed all advanced training in EFT including Beyond Core Skills levels 1 and 2 as well as over 75 hours of EFT consultation. Prior to opening her private practice, she was a clinical director and a therapist at the Lotus Collaborative, a treatment center for clients with Eating Disorders. Julie takes a warm, client-centered approach with clients. She is always working on becoming as culturally sensitive and self-aware as possible. Julie is licensed in the states of California and Oregon.

Fran Reich, LCSW- Program Committee: Hospitality Coordinator

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Fran is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who has been in the field for over 40 years. After 26 years working in the psychiatry department of Kaiser Permanente in San Francisco, Fran took early retirement in 2015. In 2017 Fran discovered EFT, which rejuvenated her private practice. She continues to maintain a part-time practice in San Francisco working with individual adults and couples. In her spare time, Fran does stained glass (See photo) and loves entertaining good friends at her home in SF with her husband Alex.

Christina Massoni Hughes, LMFT - Program Committee: Hospitality Coordinator

Pronouns: she/her/hers

Christina works with individuals, couples and families in her San Francisco-based private practice. She's passionate about supporting her clients to deepen their connections to those around them, to learn to be in tune with and respond to those they love. Still new to EFT, she completed Externship in 2020 and then Core Skills with Dr. Silvina Irwin and Michael Baxter, and now, is patiently working towards certification. Prior to private practice, Christina worked with adolescents, teens and families through school-based programs with the YMCA and Edgewood Center. Christina grew up here in San Francisco and is grateful to raise her two children here, alongside sweet friends and family.