Background

• Postdoctoral MS – Clinical Psychopharmacology, Fairleigh Dickinson University

• PhD – Clinical Health Psychology, Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology and Albert Einstein College of Medicine

• MA – Psychology, Boston University

• BA – Psychology, Boston University

I’ve always connected well with people and have had my sights set on becoming a psychologist. 

During college (BA, Boston University, 1991), I majored in psychology and minored in biology. More than any other area of the field, it was the mind/body link that fascinated me most. In particular, I was drawn to what happens to the body during times of stress. Becoming a teaching assistant for a “Stress and Coping” class solidified my love for the nervous system response to acute and chronic stressors. I stayed on at BU to receive a Master of Arts Degree in Psychology (MA, Boston University, 1992). 

My very specific interests were gaining momentum in academia—and a PhD program was developed in Health Psychology, which was jointly offered by the Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology and Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY. This program allowed me to further focus on how to treat people psychologically within a given medical field. The field of my choice was women’s health, and I was afforded the freedom to navigate a path that would allow me to focus on women, particularly within the context of the reproductive lifecycle. After completing an internship at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD, I received my PhD degree in Clinical Health Psychology in 1996.

In following years, I practiced in areas such as pediatric oncology, inpatient cardiac and stroke rehabilitation, and outpatient mental health. The position which launched my career, however, happened quite fortuitously. After expressing a desire to work with women in the reproductive healthcare field, I was invited to join a women’s healthcare practice, where I offered psychological services to women experiencing sadness and/or anxiety due to stresses resulting from their gynecological, obstetrical or reproductive health.

Today, and for the past 20 years, I have worked with women who want to further explore the most adaptable ways to get through the bumps of their lives—whether they be due to stressors from their physical health, or those emanating from relationships, work, or just plain being overwhelmed. I greatly enjoy what I do and have learned so much from the many years of listening to what women are thinking and feeling. It is quite a privilege to be the recipient of intimate knowledge about so many women’s lives, and I have a deep appreciation of the subjective experience as a result. 

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