After college I spent a few years working in publishing.  When I decided I wanted to become a psychotherapist, I sought out new experiences that allowed me to work more directly with people, first at a hospice in California, and later in Oregon at a nonprofit center helping women and children leave domestic violence.

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             I then earned a Master’s degree in psychology from Western Washington University.  After graduating, I worked for some years at a community mental health center, where I was a therapist for young children and their families, as well as adults.  I also oversaw a school-based, adolescent day treatment program.

 

             After a few years I opened my private practice.  My educational and work experiences led me to believe that a psychoanalytic understanding is the most useful way to think about our inner life and, for that reason, is the basis for the most effective ways of helping people, whether that help is short-term crisis intervention, brief therapy, or long-term, intensive therapy—and anything else in between.  To become a psychoanalyst I trained at the Seattle Psychoanalytic Society and Institute, and I offer psychoanalysis and psychoanalytic psychotherapy in my private practice. (See the FAQs for an explanation of the difference between these two forms of therapy.)

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             In addition to my therapy practice, I also consult with and teach other psychotherapists.