I am a clinical psychologist specializing in individual therapy with older adolescents and adults, and have maintained a private practice in Montclair, New Jersey for over 20 years.
With over 25 years experience as a therapist, a graduate of Adelphi’s Derner Institute of Advanced Psychological Studies and Cornell University, I am currently serving as a private practitioner working with a broad spectrum of clients. My graduate school training was psychoanalytic in nature, and my personal and professional quest for the most efficient and effective forms of therapy and healing have lead me to a variety of other techniques and views of the self. These include EMDR/Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (I am an EMDRIA-certified practitioner), Somatic Experiencing (I holds an SEP Certificate), Shamanism (I apprenticed with the shaman Peter Calhoun), Ego State therapy, Life Force Yoga (I hold a Level 1 Certification), Imagery, Dreamwork, and Mindfulness. I have also been composing piano music for over 25 years, and have a particular interest in helping clients find and pursue their creative processes.
I completed my psychology internship (1993) at the VA in Honolulu, while spending two years living in Hawaii and working on my dissertation, “Identity Formation in Japanese American College Students of Hawaii: the Role of Ethnic and Cultural Identification.” It was there that my interests in trauma (I also spent a year doing research and receiving specialized training at the VA’s Pacific Center for PTSD), cultural/ethnic differences as they relate to identity development, and spirituality blossomed and continue to shape my work with clients.
I am an interactive, goal-oriented therapist. My therapeutic approach is to provide support and practical feedback to help clients effectively address personal life challenges. I work in a holistic way, offering a highly personalized approach tailored to each client’s emotional, mental, physical, and spiritual well-being. With compassion, understanding, and a keen intuition, I work with each individual to help them build on their strengths and access their inner wisdom, their potential that has been within them all along.
I received my Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Adelphi University in 1995. I received my B.S. in Human Service Studies from Cornell University in 1987. I hold licenses in Psychology in the states of New York (license # 012935, granted in 1996) and New Jersey (license # 3751, granted in 1999), and have a multi-state PSYPACT telehealth authorization. I began training in EMDR in 1992, and became EMDRIA-certified in 2004. I completed training in Somatic Experiencing in 2015 and hold an SEP certificate. I completed training in Life Force Yoga in 2019, and hold a Level 1 Certification. I am a longstanding member of the American Psychological Association, the New Jersey Psychological Association, the EMDR International Association, and the Somatic Experiencing Trauma Institute.
My musical journey
My musical journey began over 25 years ago, while I was living in Hawaii. As I was going through an emotionally challenging time, I fell in love with the island’s exquisite beauty, and began to “sense into” the natural world around me. This “sensing into” evolved into hearing melodies and rhythmic patterns of sound, which I understand as Mother Earth’s way of communicating with me. My first CD, “Angel Gratitude, a musical journey home,” was released in 2009. My second CD, “Embodiment, awakening to essence through sound,” was released in 2017. Since 2014, I have been the Music Alchemist for Devadana Sanctuary, a spiritual group that partners with the invisible realms to co-create a more peaceful, beautiful, loving, and just world. Accessing and collaborating with the energies of other dimensions of existence through sound, vibration, and melody–in order to dream this new world into being– is the path of my own SOUL.
Please click here for the Embodiment story