My recent move to Chestertown, MD, allows me to share the expertise I’ve gained over my 40 years in private practice as a Clinical Mental Health Counselor. I offer Individual, Family, Couple, and Group Therapy with a focus on multi-generational family challenges, personal and societal traumatic incidents, adult children of alcoholics’ challenges, LGBT+ concerns, and medical health worries. My clients benefit from my varied professional skill sets. I am a Certified Group Psychotherapist, a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, a Marriage & Family Therapist, and an Alcohol & Drug Counselor.  

An elective course in college was my first exposure to the field of psychotherapy. As I listened to the instructor, the concepts seemed familiar to me. I was surprised to discover that my personal interests constituted a professional course of study that set the path for my life’s work. It fit well with my experience in the 5th grade, when the young person’s librarian in my hometown of Annapolis introduced me to the inspiring lives of Harriet Tubman, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Helen Keller. Each was hindered by significant challenges and yet overcame her constraints and helped others discover their strengths. Intrigued by their resilience and determination, I imagined it seemed possible to help myself and to help others.  

I began my solo private psychotherapy practice in Bethesda, MD. Throughout the years, I’ve worked with adults at different stages of emotional development, facing joyful and challenging circumstances, as well as personal and social difficulties. My clinical experiences as a Marriage & Family Therapist, a Certified Group Psychotherapist, and a Fellow of the Institute of Contemporary Psychoanalysis & Psychotherapy (ICP+P), provide me kaleidoscopic perspectives about each client’s internal and interpersonal worlds.  

As human beings, we are each beautifully flawed and our relationships come with challenges. We have a need for secure and satisfying connections within ourselves and with others. Exploration toward self-awareness can identify qualities of emotional well-being that support collaboration, cooperation, and connection in our relationships. Such self-understanding also allows us to uncover confusing and unexplained feelings. Together, we can explore puzzling family narratives about loss, addiction, financial difficulties, mental and physical illnesses, injury, or employment anxiety. These conditions, when unknown, can result in a variety of feelings including isolation, uncertainty, and weariness. Making room for “knowing” calms these feelings and promotes expanded personal development.  

Contributing to my professional communities through service has enriched me. At the regional level, on the Mid-Atlantic Group Psychotherapy Society’s (MAGPS) Board of Directors, I served in leadership as their newsletter editor, webmaster, Cinema Series chair, and member trainer. At the national level, my services to the American Group Psychotherapy Association (AGPA) involved being a training member of their annual Institute Faculty. I served on the Scholarship Committee of AGPA’s Foundation Board and awarded annual scholarships to students, clinicians, and individuals from treatment communities around the world. In recognition of my service, I was awarded the designation of AGPA Fellow.  

Training and mentoring for practitioners can provide rich and rewarding experiences for all involved. The ability for a mental health practitioner to comfortably use oneself in therapeutic relationships is a valuable professional skill. Clinicians who become familiar with their own emotional strengths and weaknesses can connect profoundly and empathically with clients. As a LCPC-M Supervisor and a Washington School of Psychiatry (WSP) trained Supervisor, my services are available to both beginning and experienced practitioners who want to expand their skills with further supervision and consultation.