I became a psychotherapist in 1991 after completing my Master's degree in Social Work at Loyola University of Chicago. While completing my degree, I did a two-year internship at the Josselyn Center for Mental Health, which is the community mental health center for the north shore of Chicago. I also did an internship at the Lifeline, an in-patient treatment center for people with addictions to alcohol and cocaine. I spent a year working on the relapse team.
After graduation, I joined Perspectives, a group practice located in DT Chicago, Oakbrook, and Flossmoor. Perspectives is a dynamic, professional, and collegial place to work. I worked in the clinical division, where I was able to develop a busy practice. I worked with wonderful people from all walks of life and from many different ethnic backgrounds. While working at Perspectives, I took postgraduate courses in Advanced Marital Therapy. I was also a therapist at the Sexual Dysfunction Clinic at Loyola Hospital and Medical Center.
In 2000, I left Perspectives and went into private practice with offices in Glenview and Oakbrook. Prior to studying to become a psychotherapist and during my studies at Loyola, I worked as a Speech and Language Pathologist. I was the Director of Communication Disorders at Saint Joseph Hospital in Chicago. The department included speech-language therapists, audiologists, learning disabilities diagnosticians, and deaf educators. While at Saint Joseph Hospital, I developed and coordinated the Pediatric Neurology Team, in addition to being part of the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation team.
When I had my first child, I worked part-time as a speech pathologist at the University of Chicago's Weiss Hospital. I saw both in- and outpatients with speech, language, voice, and swallowing problems. I was also a member of the Pediatric Muscular Dystrophy team.
I have always enjoyed working with people. My extensive experience working with people having communication problems made the transition to becoming a psychotherapist an easy one for me. So many of the problems people have in relationships have to do with communication. In addition, I believe people should have a narrative, which helps them understand who they are, and this story requires the ability to effectively tell one's story.
I have been happily married for 40 years. I have two adult children and a wonderful dog. (Bogie is a therapy dog at a nearby nursing home!!!)
I have had the privilege of working with individuals, couples, and families for the past 25 years. My greatest pleasure comes from helping people feel better about the complex issues, often painful ones, that bring them to my office for help. I have worked hard to develop my skills and deepen my understanding of a wide range of problems through on-going course work, supervision, and consultation groups.
I am a dedicated and skilled in helping people resolve the issues that prevent them from finding and sustaining healthy and sustaining relationships. I am also interested in helping people understand the issues that prevent them from becoming successful in the workplace.
I have had extensive experience working with Bipolar and Unipolar Depression (including the use of Interpersonal and Social Rhythm Therapy). Other areas of focus include relational issues, loss and grief, ADHD, chronic pain and illness, infidelity and all types of addictive/compulsive behavior. Most recently I have been trained in Emotionally Focused Couples therapy which offers an additional lens in which to understand relational distress.
