ABOUT

What makes one person live through horrific experiences and emerge with the desire to live joyfully while another can become overwhelmed by the apparently slightest bumps in the road? The pursuit of the answer(s) to that question led me to the study of psychology, and later, psychoanalysis. It also etched in me a deep respect for the human condition and for the interaction of biology (nature) with socialization (nurture) as well as the connection between psyche and soma. Human beings are incredibly adaptive and resilient, and nothing can compare with our ability to use and process information, attend to our emotions and change our behavior.

I became acquainted with psychological trauma and the particular way in which it affects the human psyche, early in my clinical work. As a young psychotherapist, I worked with survivors of sexual abuse, physical and emotional battering, rape, incest, and situational disaster. More than twenty five years later, my clinical experience has taught me that many of us have experienced some level of trauma in our lives. While these events may not be of the “big Trauma” kind as described above, cumulative “little trauma’s” can often prevent us from living an integrated life where we are free to make meaningful and healthy choices.

Trauma often blocks our ability to access and use needed information and skills to heal and continue our life without fear.  The treatment of trauma involves attending to a person’s history and past experiences, as well as the current situations that may trigger dysfunctional behavior and emotions. The focus of my practice is to help one to re-establish a sense of safety and predictability through the understanding and processing of traumatic life experience, as well as aiding in the development of new and adaptive behaviors.