Christine Friedrich

Christine is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and a member of the National Association of Social Workers. Christine is originally from Louisiana (the land of alligators and mosquitoes) where she earned both her undergraduate degree in Sociology (1980) and Master’s of Social Work (1987) from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge. Christine has a vast and varied background with experience in the United States and Overseas. She started her career with working with inner city youth in Dallas, Tx moving on to working with adjudicated youth in Wilderness Programs in GA. She returned to La and began to focus on trauma and women advocacy in domestic violence. She has over a decade of working with Substance Abuse and specialized training in sexual abuse treatment. In addition, Christine worked as EAP for the Gulf Coast Region in the Oil Industry addressing mental and substance abuse needs and a team member of the Disaster Response Team for Critical Incidents off shore and in refineries. She also provided International Placement Assessments and training to Engineers and their families who were transferred overseas. Her interest in differing cultures took off and she continued in her trainings in various cultures to understand mental health needs, healing wisdom of non-white cultures and supporting the preservation of cultural integrity. She has had a successful private practice in Lake Charles, LA and Clinical Director at Life Change, Inc. She worked in Emergency Psych Services at University Hospital in Denver, Co and was present in the ER during the Columbine High School tragedy assisting with the needs of families and students during US first major school shooting. Upon coming to California in 2003 she worked at various mental health programs before joining the staff at Consolidated Tribal Health Project where she worked for almost 14 years as lead Clinician until transferring to AVHC.

Christine has certifications in various trauma modalities:  EMDR, NLP, NARM, SE, TFCBT, MBSR.

Christine lives with her beloved husband and best friend, Zach and dog Roxey. She enjoys hiking, canoeing/kayaking, gardening, meditation art and music.  She is dedicated to Animal Rescue and currently volunteers at two animal sanctuaries/rescue centers. She is also a certified Qi Gong teacher has practiced Qi Gong and Yoga for several decades.