I am a native New Yorker but my life goals moved me up and down the east coast. I grew up with many privileges but faced painful childhood experiences myself. I realized early in life that I wanted to help those in adverse circumstances feel better about themselves and their lives, particularly children and their families. With that goal in mind, I graduated with honors with a major in psychology from Wellesley College, and went on to obtaining a doctorate in clinical psychology at the University of South Florida. After training for three years in a doctoral fellowship at the Yale University School of Medicine, I served on the faculty at the Yale Child Study Center for five years. Family needs then led me to Massachusetts, where I have raised my three children and served in multiple agencies as therapist, evaluator, adjunct professor, clinical supervisor, consultant, parent coach, and school psychologist. After over 30 years in the public sector, I decided in 2020 to focus exclusively on the needs of women doing hard things in the world and parents. I know what it is like to have a lot of responsibility out in the world while managing family life and my own internal struggles. My experiences raising an autistic child with significant needs has given me a special heart for women who work and care about their careers, but also need or want to have an intense focus on their children and families.

I use a variety of therapeutic interventions including:

• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

• Trauma-Informed Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT)

• Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT)

• Mindfullness-Based Psychoherapy (MBPT or MBT)

• Insight-oriented therapy (analytic approaches)

• Schema Therapy

• Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFST)

I also encourage and teach mindfulness approaches to support overall well-being including mindfulness meditation and tapping.

Here is what a session might look like.

In a safe, casual, accepting atmosphere (I also incorporate humor into my work), we will start with talking about things that might be bothering you in the moment. I like to start with knowing your “ups and downs” as they exist for you on the day we meet. After that we do the following hard work:

• Identify, process, and challenge the deep-rooted beliefs and life experiences causing you sleepless nights and unbearable emotional or physical pain and illness.

• Carefully examine and identify negative thinking and behavior loops that lead to emotional distress and poor choices.

• When you are ready and if appropriate, deeply explore and understand the conscious and subconscious roots of your struggles or pain.

• Develop more adaptive responses to automatic and unhelpful beliefs, thoughts and behaviors.

• Process trauma and loss and find transformation from those experiences.

• Find adaptive approaches to how you think and the choices that you make in your personal and professional or parenting life.

• Examine and understand family and group dynamics you are a part of and identify ways to establish clear, healthy boundaries with those around you.

• Learn how your over-learned and heavily socialized “disease to please” is making you sick and develop self-care strategies that work for you.

• Look at habitual patterns, habits and practices that may have served you in the past but are no longer working to reduce symptoms and create a more balanced life.

• Find ways to balance your nervous system to promote your overall well-being.

We end the session by “dropping back in” to the day ahead and centering in a way that allows you to bring yourself fully into what you have to do next.

If you are ready for deep change, if you are tired of living a life lacking in vitality and confidence, if you are willing to roll up your sleeves and engage in the process, then I believe you are ready for our work together. Let’s meet up and start your path to transformation today.