Moxie & Candor is a lifestyle magazine and blog designed to help us take better care of ourselves.

Moxie & Candor’s mission is to provide content that empowers us to take better care of ourselves, lead more value-driven lives, and advocate for ourselves more effectively. Moxie and Candor is for everyone who wants to become more fully realized versions of themselves. We provide evidence-based strategies, opinion pieces based on lived experiences, and interviews that bring us closer to living our lives in ways we are proud of.

Why use succulents as a symbol?

It’s said that succulents symbolize enduring love. Beyond their beauty, they store water in their leaves to weather harsh conditions. They are scrappy and resilient. Those traits are at heart of creating change.

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Who We Are

nehjla mashal, phd

Dr. Nehjla Mashal is a licensed psychologist (PSY28893) providing evidenced-based individual psychotherapy for adults and teens in San Francisco. She has a direct and collaborative style and treats each client with warmth and respect. Her areas of expertise include the treatment of anxiety disorders, such as Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder, Panic Disorder, and depressive disorders, such as Major Depressive Disorder and Persistent Depressive Disorder. She is also interested in topics such as assertiveness and effective communication strategies, diversity and intersectionality, and the relationship between anxiety and interpersonal functioning. She strives to help her clients make meaningful changes in their lives and is inspired and energized by their strength, resiliency, and capacity for change.

Dr. Mashal received her B.A. in Psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Northwestern University. She has served as a study therapist on a randomized controlled trial of cognitive behavioral therapy for generalized anxiety disorder and a pilot study of problem solving therapy for anxiety disorders. Dr. Mashal had a dual appointment as a postdoctoral fellow at the Sierra Pacific Mental Illness Research Education and Clinical Centers (MIRECC) at VA Palo Alto Health Care System and at Stanford University School of Medicine in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.

Dr. Mashal has extensive training in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), Problem Solving Therapy (PST), Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT), Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), and applied tension and exposure for blood-injection-injury (BII) phobia. Dr. Mashal also provides clinical supervision to trainees and engages in diversity and inclusion work.

See Dr. Mashal’s Featured Therapist Interview with the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies at: http://www.abct.org/Therapists/Nehjla_Mashal.cfm.

Learn more about her experience here.

Views expressed on this website are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of any employer.

Content presented on (or in conjunction with) this website by these authors does not constitute mental health services. Podcasts, essays, graphics, and videos are intended to be educational, for informational purposes only. If you have a mental health issue, we recommend you seek appropriate treatment.

jordan jones, LICSW

Jordan Jones is a Licensed Clinical Independent Social Worker (LICSW) providing outpatient individual psychotherapy to adults and adolescents in the Twin Cities metro area. She provides a supportive environment where clients can reorient themselves, build skills, and develop new insights in order to reach their goals. She is trained in Narrative Exposure Therapy, Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), and Mindfulness interventions, and works with both English and Spanish speakers. Jordan enjoys spending time outdoors hiking, gardening, and foraging for mushrooms.

Nicole+Cheung.jpg — Nicole Cheung, PSYD

Dr. Nicole Cheung is a licensed psychologist (PSY29538) who provides psychotherapy to both teenagers and adults. She uses evidence-based treatments to address concerns with stress coping and work/retirement adjustment, OC spectrum disorders (OCD, Body Dysmorphic Disorder), as well as other anxiety disorders (phobias, GAD) and mood problems (depression). She has training in Exposure and Response Prevention, Prolonged Exposure, Cognitive Processing Therapy, and Imagery Rehearsal Training (for nightmare treatment).

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy broadly informs Dr. Cheung's approach. However, she integrates elements of ACT and mindfulness, as well as process therapy to enhance motivation and the therapeutic relationship. Even in individual treatment, therapy can recruit families and personal values for effective work.

Dr. Cheung received her graduate school education at Nova Southeastern University, where she won a scholarship for the Multicultural track and joined the Psi Chi Honors Society. She undertook her practical training for three years with the VA Healthcare System, serving veterans around the country, including her accredited postdoctoral fellowship at the San Francisco VAMC and her APA-accredited internship at the VA Black Hills. Prior to that, she enjoyed clinical experiences at Nova, with the Anxiety Disorders Clinic at Nova and the ADHD Assessment, Consultation, and Treatment Center.

Outside of the clinic, her work has included considerable community outreach. She has worked with the Broward Sheriff's Office providing education to emergency dispatchers, as well as veterans support organizations, the Red Cross, and county mental health departments in the community.

Additionally, during the pandemic, Dr. Cheung wrote and drew the COVID-19 Stress Comics, which can be found at: http://www.instagram.com/covid19coping

Content presented on (or in conjunction with) this website by these authors does not constitute mental health services. Podcasts, essays, graphics, and videos are intended to be educational, for informational purposes only. If you have a mental health issue, we recommend you seek appropriate treatment.