ABOUT ME
Practicing psychotherapy is a second career for me. After earlier journeys through graduate studies in philosophical theology and then business school and nearly 20 years in the corporate arena, I began a career transition, eager to return to my early roots in working with people and their processes of making meaning, seeking self-understanding, and achieving self-fulfillment.
I’ve kept a foot in the corporate arena along the way, supporting my transition. So I know something about both the real world stresses and struggles that my clients deal with and what it is to want more out of life, or something different, and to change course and go after it, recreate one’s self.
I went back to school and earned my Master of Social Work degree from the University of Georgia in 2011. In conjunction with that program, I held internships at Side By Side Clubhouse for Brain Injury (where I learned such priceless lessons in meeting clients where they are) and at Jewish Family & Career Services (where I worked with clients across the age spectrum in both individual and group therapy).
After graduating, I completed a three year Residency at Metropolitan Counseling Services, working with individual adults and couples in psychotherapy addressing diverse issues. There I received training in trauma and dissociative issues stemming from childhood sexual and other abuse, which continues to be a niche in which I enjoy working. Concurrently, I also completed a four year curriculum in psychoanalytic theory from the Emory University Psychoanalytic Institute. Upon obtaining clinical licensure, I opened my private practice in psychotherapy.
I work primarily from a psychodynamic/psychoanalytic orientation, drawing from attachment theory, object relations, self-psychology, and contemporary relational psychotherapy, to work with the deep long-term wounds, traumas, patterns, and scripts that shape perceptions of self and others, influencing current experiences and struggles. I will incorporate other modalities as applicable.
In addition to traditional talk therapy, I offer Brainspotting, a cutting edge EMDR derivative, neurobiological trauma treatment (see Services for more about Brainspotting). I am also trained in the Trauma Resiliency Model (Level One), another mind-body integrative approach for regulating the autonomic nervous system and expanding resiliency in the face of fight or flight reactivity. I am also intensively trained in Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) and Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) for Couples.
I welcome clients from all walks of life. Much of the richness of life is in our racial, ethnic, cultural, religious, and sexual diversity.
Education
MSW, University of Georgia, 2011
MBA, Georgia State University, 1988
MTS (Philosophical Theology), Emory University, Candler School of Theology, 1984
BA, Centenary College of Louisiana, 1982
Credentials
Licensed Clinical Social Worker, GA #005327, 2011
Certificate, Psychoanalytic Theory, Emory University Psychoanalytic Institute, 2014
Certificate, Residency in Adult Psychotherapy, Metropolitan Counseling Services, 2014
Professional associations
American Academy of Psychotherapists, Editor, Voices: The Art and Science of Psychotherapy (the journal of AAP)
Atlanta Psychoanalytic Society, past Treasurer, past Program Committee Chair
Georgia Society for Clinical Social Work, Ethics Committee Chair
International Center for Excellence in Emotionally Focused Therapy (ICEEFT)
Atlanta Center for Emotionally Focused Therapy
Oh, and as you will quickly figure out from this website design, I am passionate about the beach! Part of maintaining your mental and emotional health, as well as life balance, is having a place to retreat and refuel, a place where you slow down and listen to your deepest self and feel fully alive. For me, it's the beach. Yours might be elsewhere — as long as you are recharging somewhere. I hope that your therapy time can be part of that self-care space and that you find others beyond it.
“The cure for anything is salt water — sweat, tears or the sea.”
