I am a licensed clinical psychologist in PA and NJ. I obtained my doctorate at the University of Southern California and have engaged in additional postgraduate training at the Psychoanalytic Center of Philadelphia. I have been doing therapy for 20 years with adults of all ages, sexual orientations, and ethnicities in various setting including outpatient and inpatient programs, university counseling centers, and VA hospitals. In addition to being a therapist, I am an educator and researcher. As a full professor at The College of New Jersey, I teach undergraduate courses in clinical disorders, statistics, clinical skills, mindfulness, and sexual/gender minority mental health. I also mentor student researchers and conduct my own research on the causes and consequences of rumination, or repetitive thinking about negative experiences. I have published over 25 journal articles and one book, and I frequently give presentations at psychology conferences.

I work from a psychodynamic and psychoanalytic approach that emphasizes understanding clients’ inner experiences, including how thoughts and feelings they are unaware of influence their behavior and life choices. In this kind of therapy, we work to shine a light of curiosity and compassion on ways that clients’ pasts and inner conflicts influence their current problems. The goal of this deep, insight-oriented work is to obtain greater freedom – freedom from suffering and freedom from internally- and externally-generated obstacles to a fulfilling life. This kind of therapy is frequently longer-term, because developing a thorough understanding for the reasons of one’s struggles and new ways of responding to the world and oneself is a slow process. All of this work happens in the context of a close, meaningful collaboration where clients feel understood, supported, and respected.