I earned my Bachelor of Arts in Psychology (with a concentration in Neuroscience) from Bryn Mawr College. After completing my pre-med requirements (and while attending med school interviews), I decided that hard-science was not the only skillset I wanted to use in my career (for the rest of my life) to explore this journey of the human experience. So, I explored my interests and strengths both professionally, and personally. I've lived an incredibly fulfilling life that affords me a wealth of experiences that have honed my intuition, creativity, understanding, and sense of (sometimes dark) humor. I believe I have explored, and still explore, many personal, primordial, and relational landscapes, and have experienced the pleasure, fun, and growth that comes from being there voluntarily and intentionally. This wealth of conversance allows me to work with, understand, and challenge my exceptional, brilliant, adventurous, and unique clients in ways that they may not feel supported and understood elsewhere. I believe that this promotes the swiftest, and deepest, of transformations in my extraordinary clients, and fosters a new relationship with the distress that comes from change, potential, realization, and infinite possibility.

When I fully recognized my own aspirations and goals, I began my clinical journey with a Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy at Hofstra University. I obtained my MFT in 2013. I then attended the Clinical Psychology PhD program at Stony Brook University. SBU is a bastion of clinical science, ranking 3rd in the country in 2020 US News and World Report. Since 1966, it has been part of the origins and history of modern psychology, especially cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). There, I continued to receive extensive training in evidence-based treatments for a range of disorders and relational issues. I gained essential clinical and research experience working with my mentor Dr. K. Daniel O’Leary, one of the founders of couples research in psychotherapy. My work at SBU included (but was not limited to) custody case evaluations, therapeutic visitation, individual/couples/family/group therapy modalities, and research on pornography consumption in relationships, sexual coercion, intimate partner violence, relationship distress, and aggression.

During my PhD program, I completed two years of externship working with the LGBTQIA+ community in New York City with Dr. John Pachankis at the Yale School of Public Health. There, I was a therapist for the first (and still only) evidence-based clinical trial of affirmative therapy using the Unified Protocol for emotional disorders. These experiences and inspirational mentors have brought more sophistication to my ‘literary’ case formulations, and crystalized my interest in who we are as individuals and how we experience our relationships – the good and the bad. I have a passion for bringing attention to the importance of satisfying and authentic relationships in our lives, and advocating for the LGBTQIA+ community.

For my doctoral internship and post-doc, I took the opportunity to obtain unique expertise and certification in cutting-edge and gold-standard trauma-focused therapy and couples therapy at the VA. Adding to the diversity of complex cases and multi-systemic experiences, I served Veterans and Veteran relationships at 3 VA hospitals around the country. In the VA I served as an advocate of non-judgmental, systems-focused approaches to mental health, relationships, trauma, serious mental illness, and at-risk populations. I continued to work with couples and families, as well as individuals, and focused on the impact of sexual assault, military sexual trauma, trauma-focused therapies, intimate partner violence, and providing LGBTQIA+ affirming therapy and safe spaces for sexual and gender minority Veterans. I found this transformative work to be extremely rewarding, especially in creating change and providing unique therapeutic opportunities (i.e., sex therapy, affirming care, etc.) for LGBTQIA+ and relationship-diverse Veterans that were not otherwise available. I also continued to publish and be a part of research supporting LGBTQIA+ experiences and mental health.

Eventually, I opened my private practice – first in California and then in my beloved New York City. Transitioning back to a smaller practice allowed me to return to working with the creatives, professionals and personalities that I feel are both personally and professionally a unique fit for my therapeutic strengths and passions --which is so important for therapy. Through Relational Alchemy I bring this extraordinary training to relationships and individuals who align with my passion for connection, creativity, individuality, joy, openness, and authenticity in life, art, and the human experience. Most recently, I also brought this stance, these interests, and my devotion to teaching clinicians, to my work as core faculty in the Couples and Family Therapy Program at Alliant International University as an Assistant Professor. There, I taught competency and cultural humility in classes like Advanced Couples Therapy, Personality and Affect, Practicum, and MFT Assessment (among others). However, I left this position in 2024 to focus on Relational Alchemy and training Psychological Associates and AMFTs in my practice.