As a youngster, one winter I found my mothers’ old psychology textbook in our garage. I was fascinated by the idea that one could understand human behavior. Even in the depth of an Iowa winter, my breath puffing out in our unheated garage, I was absorbed by these theories. As a teen, I worked with a psychologist, and it was life changing. My fate was sealed, and from that moment on I single mindedly focused on becoming a clinical psychologist.
I obtained my Bachelors degree with a Major in psychology from the University of Iowa. I then worked at the University of Pennsylvania in order to gain experience before beginning graduate studies in New York City. I held many professional positions throughout graduate school at the New School for Social Research, including research assistant for Dr. Herbert Schlesinger and Structured Clinical Interviewer for the Psychiatric Institute at Columbia University under Dr. Abby Fyer.
My one-year externship and my two-year internship at the New York Presbyterian Hospital-Cornell Medical College began my specialization in trauma and stress utilizing a CBT learning model perspective. As an Assistant Professor at Cornell Medical College I trained, and supervised staff on several NIMH funded, cutting edge interventions including Exposure therapy for Acute Stress Disorder and PTSD.
I also served as an Attending Physician on a regional Burn Unit at NewYork Presbyterian Hospital for over a decade, where I participated in case conferences, evaluation and assessment of patients, as well as supervising graduate students and post-doctoral fellows. My work on the Burn Center has made me an expert in acute medical crisis, work-place accidents, first responders who witnessed death,and destruction, acute and traumatic grief and chronic illness. A common denominator in this work was helping the patients find acceptance in their situation as it was in that moment.
People from all walks of life with many stories sat with me in my office in the fifteen years I practiced in New York City. I was privileged to provide care for people devastated by the attacks on the World Trade Center for several years after 9-11. In 2005 after the South Pacific Tsunami, I went to Sri Lanka in order to train local counselors in the use of cognitive behavioral therapy for trauma. This was the realization of a professional goal to teach and participate in disaster relief in an international setting.
My move to Colorado in 2011 was motivated by my values to have an abundance of nature, easy access to outdoor exercise and a reasonable pace of life in which to raise my family. My personal and professional goals have coalesced to find me happily pursuing my private practice in historic Old Town. I have found the people I have worked with over the last decade in Fort Collins to be astoundingly unique, highly educated and to have so many key coping strategies already in place. This has made it so rewarding to help people look even more deeply inside themselves. I sincerely look forward to working with you on your goals.
Exciting new (ish) elements of my practice include somatic based therapies, such as EMDR, I have completed Hakomi training, and utilize yogic breathwork and asana practices within my therapeutic framework. For my clients, this means an expansion of tools for them to utilize in self care, and an abundance of methods for processing information (e.g. processing through multiple channels). In my experience, this has proven to deepen and clarify people’s experience in therapy.