I have had a helping profession personality ever since I can remember. I was unique in being able to feel other people's pain and struggles. In life, there was really only one career path for me and that was as counselor.

I work best with clients who take an active role in their therapy. Those who put the work in between sessions. Those who are open to new strategies and solutions, and those who can take risks with honesty. I am equally proficient with children, adults, couples and family units; and have contributed to successes of clients with issues ranging from everyday life stressors to those with severe and persistent mental illnesses.

Generally speaking, it is adolescents who feel like their problems are insurmountable at the beginning of therapy but who quickly realize that they have the skills to put their biggest challenges in the rearview mirror, and then go on to have a productive adulthood.

That each moment of each day is a new opportunity to make a change, even if previous efforts have failed.

Thriveworks offers the ability to be flexible and reach as many new members as possible.

I have all the trinkets that inspire me in my home office, and they say much about me. I have sports memorabilia (represents winning, losing and teamwork), small gifts through the years from my daughter (which represents whom is most important), items that speak to my faith (which represent a source of strength when I feel drained), an old record player with my favorite albums (which represents the soundtrack of my life), photos of loved ones (which represent the support I received for all these years of struggle), and a small cactus (that I keep alive with the least amount of water possible)!

Clients can expect a warm, non-judgmental greeting, void of awkwardness. Full effort to gain rapport, build trust and an agreement of our counseling contract. They can expect that I will want to know about what brings them to me- but not only that. I want to know about who they are in their best times as well as their worst of times.

I want to know what brings them to me, to know what type of investment they are willing to make in therapy, and how often they would like to be seen and what shape that would take. I would go over the assessment, its results, and begin to formulate a plan to get them through therapy as efficiently as possible.

That my time is as important to me as their time. Beginning and ending on time is important to me so that I can give everyone the same attention.

I start each day bright and early at the gym for 90 minutes. I value a balanced life of physical/mental/social and emotional well-being. I enjoy live shows (theatre, concerts and ballgames), I like to travel (cruises to beaches are my favorite), and binge watching "whodunits" on TV

I am a go-to person for anyone needing support and understanding.

I am particularly pleased with my work with a male client who initially entered therapy with his then girlfriend seeking couples counseling. His presentation initially tested my professional patience because his bravado and misogyny held center stage and he showed no ability to integrate feedback. I stuck with him and he began a transformation in individual counseling that I have rarely seen in my career. I used a combination of reality therapy, reflective listening, mirroring and psychoanalysis to help break down what was clearly an outward facade of an existence to the point where today he operates under the moral fiber that lived beneath for many decades.