Here is what you may want to know about me
I bring to you 44 years as a professional. Many people do not understand what an LCSW title means. LCSW stands for Licensed Clinical Social Worker. As a psychotherapist I bring the unique prospective of “person-in situation”. Not only are we looking at the intrapsychic but also at how the various aspects of your current situation – job, family, finances, health, etc. that effect your perspective.
I believe strongly in the resiliency and potential of individuals at any age to learn, gain new insight and create change. Whether you are 30 or 90 that remains possible. With a wide range of background and experience, I will accompany you on your journey as a partner and active participant. We will be engaged together in the process. I will act as a verbal mirror, reflecting actively so that you can objectively see yourself in ways you might not when alone with yourself and have the natural tendency to re-circulate the same thought processes. Stuck in that pattern, one finds it hard to change one’s self-image, which often leads an individual to sadness, poor self-esteem, or choices that negatively affect them.
My background
I have worked in a variety of settings in addition to more than 32 years in private practice alone. In addition to private practice, I have worked as a consultant, educational trainer, public speaker, continuing education provider, board member for various non-profits, and as Adjunct Faculty at Antioch University in their Masters of Psychology program. I was previously a licensed provider for the UCLA Longevity Center’s Brain Boot Camp program, which continues to provide me with the expertise in working with the spectrum of memory loss from mild cognitive impairment to dementia. I am the proud founder and creator of “The Aphrodite Project”, a program which paired individuals who had been diagnosed with cancer with artists, musicians, poets, and dancers so that together, they could both express their creative sides as well as tell their stories of survival to themselves, one another, and then to the community at large. A film was produced and shown at several film festivals based on this project and continues to be a free resource to inspire individuals who face the challenge of facing a life-changing illness like cancer. My earlier experiences in hospitals, rehabilitation centers, home care, hospice, nursing homes, maternal child settings, educational settings, all provide for an enriched background that supplements my work.
Areas of Practice
Depression
Anxiety/Panic
Relationship Issues
Grief and Bereavement
Job stress
Life transitions: Becoming a parent, retirement, living in a new location…
Issues of Aging
Adult Children of Aging Parents
Cancer Diagnosis
Health Issues
Men’s Issues
Cognitive Impairment/Memory Loss/Dementia