About ME

While I have worked, earlier in my career, in psychiatric hospitals and community mental health centers, I have practiced independently for the past 31 years. I primarily see individuals--adults and adolescents--and couples in therapy.

My therapeutic approach with people would be called integrative. I draw on cognitive-behavioral therapy, which involves helping people to learn to think and behave differently. Anxiety-laden thought as well as anger directed toward oneself are important to overcome, for they lead to personal suffering and interfere with functioning well. I also draw on psychodynamically-oriented therapy, which explores how earlier life experiences, particularly in one's family of origin, have shaped attitudes and behavior patterns that play out unproductively in current relationships. I place a premium on helping people understand the emotions they are experiencing about those matters that are most important to them, especially when such feelings may not be easy to grasp. I do not believe, when it comes to therapy, that one size fits all. I tailor how I proceed to the specific needs of the person with whom I am working. I take an active role in offering people perspective in relation to their concerns and issues, but I am always open to feedback myself about how the therapy is progressing.

My undergraduate degree is from Boston University, where I majored in English Literature. I have a Master's degree in Early Childhood Education, which I received from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. My Master's degree in Social Work came from the University of California at Berkeley, where I did my clinical training.