Hi, I’m Dr. Erin!
I’m a Certified Relationship Coach and Boundaries Expert based in San Diego, California.
I specialize in helping who want to infuse kindness into their boundary work. People who might feel a little bit disconnected from the mainstream ways that we hear about boundaries. I want my people to understand how to work with boundaries in their own life in a way that feels aligned to their values, and helps to bring them more peace and deeper, more satisfying connections with others. I use relatable neuroscience to help my clients understand their brain a little bit better and to understand that a lot of things about them make complete sense.
I’m an educator. Yes, really.
I have been a full-time professor and counselor in beautiful San Diego for nearly 20 years. I enjoy teaching applied counseling-related courses where students can learn how their own nervous system works, deepen their understanding of boundaries, and enhancing their skills in navigating communication and conflict in their relationships (some of my favorite subjects). If you swing by my classrooms you’ll see a lot of collaboration where students are learning and then applying the real-life tools they’ve learned throughout the semester. My students call my classroom a “laboratory for life”.
And I’m a coach.
As a coach, I work with individual clients who want to relate to people and the world differently, without losing some of the things that they value deeply; for example, kindness. Many of my clients recognize longstanding people-pleasing patterns. Some feel stuck repeating the same ineffective patterns over and over in their current relationships, or as they move from relationship to relationship; others are harboring resentment in different areas of their lives and burnout in their careers and want support in working with these patterns and upholding boundaries. No matter what your goal is, as a coach, I’m always holding a larger goal of helping my clients be who they are and remain in integrity with themselves.
I aim to build a coaching container that feels safe and supportive so that you can explore your patterns and embrace your realities, while also challenging you where I see that your beliefs and behaviors may be limiting you, so that you can experience the growth and transformation that you’re seeking. Internal and external boundary work is at the center of my practice.
My favorite job of all…
I’ve been married to my partner, Mitch, for 20+ years. We met in college in San Francisco. We were both college athletes (me: track, him: basketball). In many ways, we’ve grown up together and have seen each other through many iterations of ourselves. I love his sense of humor and respect his commitment to growing with me. We have three kiddos (2 in college and 1 in elementary school). My eldest son was born with congenital heart disease and, after 20+ surgeries, I call him our miracle child. Boundaries is a big part of my work in parenting my adult children. We have a sweet dog named Raakhee (pronounced “Rocky”). I love God, all people, and a good sunset at the beach.
Education & Training
Doctor of Education, Educational Leadership, San Diego State University
Master of Arts, Counseling, Golden Gate University
Bachelor of Arts, Psychology, San Francisco State University
Certificate Applied Neuroscience, Brainfirst Institute®
Certified Relationship Coach, The Relationship School®
Certified Healthy Boundaries for Kind People® Coach & Facilitator
GALLUP®-Trained Strengths Coach
I've studied Interpersonal Neurobiology (IPNB) with Dr. Dan Siegel (6 months of training), Integrative Somatic Parts Work with Fran Booth, Educational Neuroscience with Dr. Lori Desautels, the fundamentals of Polyvagal Theory with Deb Dana and Dr. Stephen Porges, and spent many hours in live learning containers with coaches and therapists like Hilary Jacobs Hendel, Terry Real, Dr. Alexandra Solomon, Stan Tatkin, Randi Buckley, Jayson Gaddis, and Juliane Taylor Shore.
Get started now with my free boundaries guide.
The start of any journey can be daunting, I totally get it. That’s why I created a step by step guide to setting boundaries that you can download — completely free.