I was born in Berkeley, California and moved to Tennessee as a 9 year old child. I attended the University of Tennessee, Knoxville for my undergraduate work. After completing a year of graduate school in neurobiology at Washington University in St. Louis, I had a change of heart about my career plans after my mother's early death. I decided I wanted to help others the way I had been helped through psychotherapy, rather than doing experiments in a laboratory all day long.

I completed my psychology graduate work at Syracuse University in 1993, where I developed a special interest in psychotherapy with traumatized individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia and other major "mental illnesses." As well, my dissertation was a research project on the effects of traumatic loss on parents who lost children as a result of the Pan Am Flight 103 disaster. In particular, I investigated possible positive changes in life that could occur as a result of experiencing a traumatic loss. I found that trauma can be a catalyst for deep personal and spiritual growth. I strive to bring about that type of change in my work as a therapist.

I have worked in many kinds of treatment settings, including a state psychiatric hospital, day treatment programs, managed care, and an outpatient clinic for victims of crime and abuse. I have been in a solo private practice for over twenty years. I work with individual adults, couples, and teens.

I was first introduced to A Course in Miracles in graduate school and began a sustained study of the Text, Workbook, and Manual in 2023. My spiritual background also includes five years as a student of Sri Chinmoy, along with later practice in Vipassana meditation and the study of Buddhism.

Some of my specialties include healing of childhood trauma, parenting, estrangement, and alternatives to psychiatric medications. My certification in Coherence Therapy was granted March 2, 2016. http://www.coherencetherapy.org/ I find this method of working to be particularly effective, even for people who have had unsuccessful experiences with psychotherapy in the past. It also tends to be relatively short term work. I'm also trained in intensive short term dynamic therapy and non-violent communication.

Therapy with me

Should you choose to work with me as your therapist, I will be doing my best to build a trusting, caring relationship with you because I believe that the quality of our relationship is the foundation upon which change will occur. Moreover, in research that has been done on psychotherapy effectiveness, it has been shown that what matters most is not the therapist's theoretical orientation or the type of problems the client is experiencing, but rather, how each rates the quality of their relationship. I work with people in person weekly in my main office in Flagstaff, Arizona, and also by phone and interactive video conferencing. Currently I am an in-network provider for BCBS, Medicare, United Health Care, Aetna, and TriCare insurances..