I began my work in mental health with children and adolescents, first as a counselor and then clinical supervisor at The Youth Shelter (a teen shelter in Connecticut), and later with Legal Aid as a forensic social worker and then social work supervisor for the family court system in New York City. There, my role was to investigate the circumstances that brought each child into court, and to represent the child's interests. Working with children who were abused or neglected, I got a close-up look at what happens when essential emotional needs are not met. As I began working more with children labeled “delinquent,” I realized that most of kids I encountered were doing what they needed to do to survive their childhoods, and I spearheaded an initiative to shift the court's focus from punishment to treatment.

Using the insights gleaned from those earlier experiences, and my extensive training in a range of modalities, I now work exclusively with adults as individuals, in couples, and in groups. I treat sex addiction, love addiction, co-dependency, love avoidance, post-traumatic stress disorder, attachment disorder, and intimacy disorders, using techniques that are particularly effective with these issues. In addition to being a certified sex addiction therapist (CSAT), I am trained in the diagnosis and treatment of love addiction and codependency, and in intensive somatic attachment; trauma resolution; and EMDR (eye movement desensitization and reprocessing). I am also a certified Sensorimotor Psychotherapist.

My focus as a therapist is on obtaining a comprehensive understanding of each person's background so that, together, the client and I can address — and resolve — core issues that lead to unsatisfying and unhealthy behavior patterns. As I work with clients, I also continuously look for opportunities to evolve and grow in ways that will add to my effectiveness and value as a therapist, and to explore new ways to meet my clients' needs.