Biography
I specialize in working with adolescents and their families. Parents often feel the need to send their teens to me with a disclaimer, preemptively apologizing for the challenge I may encounter. My response is always, “That’s ok. Relationships take time to build.” I have a specific interest in working with separated and/or blended families. In today’s world no two families are the same. I enjoy the complexities and distinctiveness of each new family I work with. I am an LGTBQ+ ally. I believe in anti-racism. As I continually strive toward racial and cultural competency, I realize there is no end to this journey. The work to achieve competency is in life-long learning.
I didn’t always think I would be a psychologist. However, I have always known I would work with children and families. For years, I worked toward becoming a pediatric ER nurse, but things don’t always play out as we imagine they will. During my time at Domincan University I took an abnormal psychology class taught by a great professor and I knew then that my plans had changed. I quickly became fascinated with learning about and understanding why people do the things they do. I realized that the interest in nursing was more generally about the interest in helping people and not specific to becoming a nurse. I have always loved learning, often stating that if I could earn a living being a full time student I probably would. So it’s no surprise my love of learning and fascination in the human mind lead me to graduate school where I earned a doctorate degree in clinical psychology and specialized in working with children and families.