LCSW, 28 years of experience
I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in New Jersey with over 27 years of experience as a therapist. I earned my MSW from Widener University in 1997. Since then, I have worked in private practice, and as a therapist in a non-profit agency. I have run successful group therapies as well as working individually with clients. I have had great success with issues of anxiety and trauma, chronic pain, personal empowerment and relationship issues. This year, 2025, I became a Certified Mental Health and Nutrition Clinical Specialist (CMNCS). This means I have knowledge about how food and nutritional supplements affect your mental health. My professional mission has always been to be there for anybody who develops a hiccup in life and needs a helping hand to get through it.
Our first session together is all about me getting to know as much about you as possible. We call that assessment. I need to learn about you, what works and what doesn't. This helps me to move forward with a treatment plan made especially for you and about you.
What you will find in me as your therapist is an active listener and responder. I like therapy to sound like two friends talking back and forth. But of course, it is much more than that because I will be totally focused on you every time we see each other.
My expertise falls with clients with unmanageable anxiety and irritable bowel syndrome. If you are a client who feels disempowered and not heard by family or friends, I can help. Perhaps you would like to incorporate your spiritual beliefs into your treatment, I am comfortable with that. If you are struggling with sexuality, I can help you find your true self.
Motivational interviewing uses concepts of cognitive behavioral therapy and combines them with use of positive affirmations to focus on and build up my client's personal strengths. As I see my client's self-esteem rising, I get the privilege to support them and cheer them on to problem resolution.
Everybody has experienced trauma to some degree. Obviously, some trauma is more severe than others. This trauma shapes and molds us as we grow into adults, and is often the source of depression, anxiety, relationship problems, and chronic medical issues. It is essential that your therapist be aware of and sensitive to these traumas that were experienced, in order to address them properly with you in therapy.
Narrative therapy is a simple concept in which if you let a person tell their trauma stories, over time, the story will change slightly. It is the telling of the story, to a trained therapist, who knows how to respond correctly, that is the healing tool. Over time the story softens as the client emotionally heals.