About Me:
In the days when schools seemed to have unfettered resources, I took an Introductory class on Psychology as a junior in high school. I knew from that class experience that I wanted to work in psychology. Since then, my life has been an exploration of understanding. human beings, how they think, feel their problems, and how to create meaningful change.
After completing my Master’s degree in counseling, I obtained a license as a Marriage and Family Therapist in 1987. But I wanted to obtain more knowledge, and I pursued a degree in clinical psychology. that supplemented a depth of knowledge and experience that I am grateful to have obtained.
All the while, my interest in counseling and psychotherapy included my work with people as young as two and a half years to eight-two and a half. The settings I worked in included hospitals, detention centers, residential centers, outpatient community counseling centers, and private practice (which I have maintained since my early graduate days)
My areas of interest included working with people with severe-moderate mental disorders, addiction disorders, trauma, depression, anxiety, couples, polyamorous relationships and families, divorce and custody, EAP, Critical Incident Stress Debriefing, and Organizational Development.
In addition, I have worked with people of different backgrounds and identities, including ethnic minorities, LGQBTIA, religious affiliations, poor and working class, mixed cultural groups, and older adults.
I am an active social media user but prefer to obtain information and current trends to understand further what social and cultural issues may impact people’s mental health.
Finally, my training as an Arts and Healing professional began with using supportive and reflective psychotherapy utilizing an array of psychotherapeutic techniques, including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Systemic Family Therapy(relational dynamics), Psychodynamic, or depth psychology analytic psychotherapy, Mindfulness and Hypnotic techniques, DBT, Behavioral Management of severe behaviors(pornography addiction, cutting, eating disorder).
In the early part of my profession, I focused on children and adolescents working with the school district and social services. My dissertation focused on spousal abuse, specifically serial battering and personality disorders in men. This research would become helpful in working with couples and the importance of developing conflict management.
While working at a juvenile detention center, adolescent sexual offenders from as young as seven years of age to the age of 17 became an interest and study. Soon afterward, I sought to work at a Child Assessment Center to understand further the effects of sexual abuse on children and adolescents. Understanding violence and sex abuse in children helped me understand its effects in adulthood and incorporate prospective vs. retrospective research.
At the beginning of the millennium, I immersed myself in custody and divorce and was a custody evaluator for over ten years. To date, I continue to consult in this heart-wrenching area.
Although I have several areas of expertise and years of experience, I vary my practice with different types of clients and issues and will often turn down certain cases to keep a balance of work. In every area of expertise I have cited, I have obtained education and training for and continue to educate further and keep myself updated. I am grateful that the profession I chose was a fit for my personality and abilities.
I am a progressive thinker. Psychotherapy is just one avenue for relieving existential pathos. Living a healthy lifestyle includes diet, exercise, healthy relationships, and a good night’s sleep. Freud said that the purpose of therapy is to return people to normal suffering. The suffering that society gives us also requires political activism. Aristotle said it clearly: Man is a political animal.
Finally, what makes therapy effective? Knowledge and experience about the issues are key. The most therapeutic factor is the relationship between therapist and client. Regardless of the degree, reputation, knowledge, or experience, if you can’t click with a therapist, it will be problematic. This is not to say that initial issues between a therapist and their client cannot be resolved. Therapy is an intimate relationship where a client has to feel as comfortable as possible to reveal their vulnerabilities and believe that the therapist understands them and can contain whatever perceived shameful thoughts and feelings they put forth. Trust is essential in establishing any good relationship.
After completing my Master’s degree in counseling, I obtained a license as a Marriage and Family Therapist in 1987. But I wanted to obtain more knowledge, and I pursued a degree in clinical psychology. that supplemented a depth of knowledge and experience that I am grateful to have obtained.
All the while, my interest in counseling and psychotherapy included my work with people as young as two and a half years to eight-two and a half. The settings I worked in included hospitals, detention centers, residential centers, outpatient community counseling centers, and private practice (which I have maintained since my early graduate days)
My areas of interest included working with people with severe-moderate mental disorders, addiction disorders, trauma, depression, anxiety, couples, polyamorous relationships and families, divorce and custody, EAP, Critical Incident Stress Debriefing, and Organizational Development.
In addition, I have worked with people of different backgrounds and identities, including ethnic minorities, LGQBTIA, religious affiliations, poor and working class, mixed cultural groups, and older adults.
I am an active social media user but prefer to obtain information and current trends to understand further what social and cultural issues may impact people’s mental health.
Finally, my training as an Arts and Healing professional began with using supportive and reflective psychotherapy utilizing an array of psychotherapeutic techniques, including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Systemic Family Therapy(relational dynamics), Psychodynamic, or depth psychology analytic psychotherapy, Mindfulness and Hypnotic techniques, DBT, Behavioral Management of severe behaviors(pornography addiction, cutting, eating disorder).
In the early part of my profession, I focused on children and adolescents working with the school district and social services. My dissertation focused on spousal abuse, specifically serial battering and personality disorders in men. This research would become helpful in working with couples and the importance of developing conflict management.
While working at a juvenile detention center, adolescent sexual offenders from as young as seven years of age to the age of 17 became an interest and study. Soon afterward, I sought to work at a Child Assessment Center to understand further the effects of sexual abuse on children and adolescents. Understanding violence and sex abuse in children helped me understand its effects in adulthood and incorporate prospective vs. retrospective research.
At the beginning of the millennium, I immersed myself in custody and divorce and was a custody evaluator for over ten years. To date, I continue to consult in this heart-wrenching area.
Although I have several areas of expertise and years of experience, I vary my practice with different types of clients and issues and will often turn down certain cases to keep a balance of work. In every area of expertise I have cited, I have obtained education and training for and continue to educate further and keep myself updated. I am grateful that the profession I chose was a fit for my personality and abilities.
I am a progressive thinker. Psychotherapy is just one avenue for relieving existential pathos. Living a healthy lifestyle includes diet, exercise, healthy relationships, and a good night’s sleep. Freud said that the purpose of therapy is to return people to normal suffering. The suffering that society gives us also requires political activism. Aristotle said it clearly: Man is a political animal.
Finally, what makes therapy effective? Knowledge and experience about the issues are key. The most therapeutic factor is the relationship between therapist and client. Regardless of the degree, reputation, knowledge, or experience, if you can’t click with a therapist, it will be problematic. This is not to say that initial issues between a therapist and their client cannot be resolved. Therapy is an intimate relationship where a client has to feel as comfortable as possible to reveal their vulnerabilities and believe that the therapist understands them and can contain whatever perceived shameful thoughts and feelings they put forth. Trust is essential in establishing any good relationship.