About Me

I am a dedicated healthcare professional living in Albuquerque, New Mexico with my husband, our kiddos, and 1 dog (I want more rescue dogs, but my husband says no!).

I was born in the Midwest, but moved to Albuquerque with my family when I was 2 years old, so I consider myself to be a native Burqueño. I graduated from St. Pius X HIgh School and went to college in San Diego at UCSD, earning a degree in literature while I worked at La Jolla Playhouse. Then I got a job in marketing at The Old Globe Theater in Balboa Park. After that, I helped run an ice cream shop near Monterey, California before moving home and pursuing my passion for nursing at University of New Mexico.

I have spent my nursing career caring for the most vulnerable New Mexicans because the people here deserve the best healthcare possible. This is my home, and I would never give up Christmas chile, the Sandias at sunset, or the warmth my fellow New Mexicans have shown me throughout my life.

My Practice

My Mission

I strive to foster an environment of safety where people can tell me anything and not feel judged or shamed.

I create partnerships to plan the best path to achieve physical and mental wellness using a holistic approach.

I aim to eradicate the stigma associated with mental illness by normalizing the full spectrum of human emotion and treating chronic mental illness as any other chronic condition. My treatment goal is to help people live their best lives by fully utilizing all the tools they can access including medications, psychotherapy, mindfulness, behavioral activation, social supports, and health coping strategies. Beyond the individual level, I am an supporter of causes that increase access to mental health services, boost patient advocacy, and remove institutional barriers to equal treatment for physical and mental conditions.

My Healthcare Journey

I became a registered nurse at UNM Hospital in 2011 after graduating from UNM. I started as an intern in the emergency room of the level 1 trauma center, worked on the step-down adult Neurology and General medicine units, served as a Neonatal Intensive Care nurse, worked at the Tucker Family Practice clinic, became a lactation consultant (at night when breastfeeding is the most difficult for new moms!), and finally worked at the outpatient mental health center supporting the clinics, transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).

In 2020, I became a Board-Certified Family Nurse Practitioner, and practiced primary care and school-based health including confidential mental health and contraception services at the UNM Hospital Atrisco Heritage Clinic.

Finally, in 2022 I graduated from UNM with my Post-Masters Certificate as a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner and started working with Monarch Psychiatry.

In 2023, I decided that I wanted to take the leap and open my own mental health clinic called Happy Human Healthcare.

Education & Certifications

Bachelors of Arts from the University of California, San Diego in Literature with an emphasis in creative writing (2003)
Bachelors of Science in Nursing from University of New Mexico (2011)
International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant (2017)
Masters in Science in Nursing, Family Nurse Practitioner from University of New Mexico (2020)
ANCC Board-Certified Family Nurse Practitioner (2020)
DEA X Waiver to prescribe suboxone (2020)
Motivational Interviewing Training (2021)
Post-Masters Certificate as a Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner (2022)