About

It is a privilege to work as a psychologist. I have tremendous regard and respect for my clients. It is a sacred responsibility when people are sharing their greatest vulnerabilities. It takes courage to know when to ask for help!

When I learn what the goals for treatment might be, I typically base the work that we do together on the most current research or behavioral outcome studies to determine the most effective treatment approaches. I assist my clients with both the necessary support and specific strategies to facilitate resolution of their problematic concerns or issues. I have a cognitive behavioral orientation that uses a goal directed problem centered approach to treatment. “If I am thinking negatively, I am feeling negative, and as a consequence, I am behaving in a negative or maladaptive manner.” Many issues can be ameliorated in just a few sessions.

I have had the benefit of working in a variety of settings and with a number of different populations. As a clinician at Milan Prison we utilized individualized behavior modification protocols. I was able to help two inmates earn their GEDs over a few months. One of the inmates even went on to earn college credit. Reinforcing approximations to an end goal (baby steps) worked! The right treatment facilitated changing the inmates’ life course. Working with veterans at the Boston VA Medical Center taught me a true appreciation for the far reaching consequences of trauma. I learned strategies to help these heroic men and women address their mental health issues including depression, PTSD, substance use disorder, anxiety, psychosis, stress related concerns, and suicide prevention. I was grateful for the opportunity to work with and learn from these brave members of the military.

I wrote my doctoral dissertation on the utilization of a multi-faceted treatment intervention on the weight, self concept and self esteem of an adolescent female population. I witnessed first hand the importance of treating the whole individual to effect short term weight loss and the longer term maintenance of the pounds lost. It can take 6 to 8 weeks for new habits to become lifestyle changes. Finding ways to reinforce the new productive habits and to put the maladaptive or destructive habits on extinction was imperative for the young women’s success. I continued working with a behavior modification model for weight loss to treat patients at Beaumont Hospital’s Division of Preventive and Nutritional Medicine. The success of our patients underscored the importance of goal setting, self monitoring, stimulus control, increased physical activity, and social support.

There are many contributing factors to one’s healing. My preference is to treat the whole individual and address both emotional and physical wellness. Working in many hospital settings, I have learned the importance of the mind body connection. Behavioral medicine is the link between a person’s thoughts, feelings and behaviors and the consequent impact on physical symptoms. We have long recognized the importance of eating well, regular exercise, drinking water and getting enough sleep for overall good health. Newer innovations for better health include understanding the importance of resiliency, anger management, mindfulness, meditation, diaphragmatic breathing and visualization.

Resilience is a key component to recovery from both emotional and medical concerns. It is defined as the ability to bounce back after adversity to a normal state of functioning. We all experience setbacks, disappointments, mental and physical health issues, and a wide array of other challenges. If you are resilient, you are better able to manage life’s bumps in the road. After experiencing one of life’s many challenges, people can learn to return stronger than ever. The building blocks to resilience include hope, optimism, and self efficacy or how well one can execute courses of action required to deal with prospective situations. Resilience includes persistence, social support, a sense of humor, present joy, self regulation of your emotions, adaptability to stress, faith or a sense of purpose, positive outlook, belief in oneself, and finding what brings you joy.

Positive psychology is the scientific study of human flourishing. Dr. Martin Seligman has researched the importance of positive psychology or the positive aspects of the human experience that make life worth living. As an outgrowth of his research, Seligman founded the Penn Resilience Program at the University of Pennsylvania. The workshops offered are designed on Seligman’s evidence-based research and have demonstrated the ability to build resilience, well being, and optimism for its participants. In addition, Seligman’s strategies have been found to prevent depression, anxiety and conduct problems, results in fewer substance abuse and mental health diagnoses, and improves physical health. Techniques include increasing self awareness, self regulation, mental agility, building strength of character, connection, and optimism. Positive psychology harnesses the power of shifting one’s perspective to maximize the potential for happiness in our everyday lives.

Finding growth opportunities from moments of struggle is the mantra of Dr. Brene Brown. I have recently become familiar with Dr. Brown’s research on shame, courage, vulnerability and empathy. Dr. Brown says that trauma takes away from us the emotional and possibly physical safety that is necessary for people to allow themselves to be vulnerable. The work for us is to recognize the physical and emotional damages that we have experienced and to find a safe space allowing us to be vulnerable and then to heal. From Dr. Brown, “I believe that you have to walk through vulnerability to get to courage. Embrace the suck. I try to be grateful and my motto right now is ‘Courage over comfort’.” The most important or valuable factor in our healing might be the issues we are least likely or prepared to discuss.

Supporting yourself through positive self-talk is imperative to treatment compliance. The negative self statements that we tell ourselves can impact our happiness. For example, “I’ll be worthy when I lose weight. I’ll be good enough when I get the corner office. Everything will be better in my life if I get that job or I meet the right person.” Learning to be happy with yourself is a key to happiness. Telling yourself that you are good enough at this very moment is of supreme importance to enhance self esteem and mood. Remind yourself that you are grateful for your many blessings. Learning to say that “I like myself and I don’t determine my worth on what I have or look like or who my friends are. I like me,” is an important factor in one’s personal growth and contentment. Brene Brown defines shame resilience as the ability to recognize shame, to move through the shame constructively while maintaining worthiness and authenticity, and to develop greater courage, compassion and connection. I appreciate Dr. Brown’s concept of shame resilience and I think it has tremendous value in creating the momentum necessary to move forward. Practicing a positive internal dialogue allows you to become emotionally invested in the new behaviors you are practicing, making it easier to execute and sustain over time.

Anger is “an emotional state that varies in intensity from mild irritation to intense fury and rage,” according to the APA. “It is accompanied by physiological and biological changes. When you get angry, your heart rate and blood pressure go up.” It is healthier to focus on what makes you happy instead of what is disturbing or anxiety provoking. To that point, anger management becomes an important skill to practice. From the APA, “The goal of anger management is to reduce both your emotional feelings and the physiological arousal that anger causes. You can’t get rid or avoid the things or the people that enrage you, nor can you change them, but you can learn to control your reactions.” Anger management techniques might include asking yourself what you are going to do to help yourself at present. Finding what you have control over in a particular situation and addressing it, or moving toward an internal locus of control. Learning to focus on what you have control over instead of what you do not have control over is imperative to maintaining calm and better overall health.

People have been meditating for generations as part of a spiritual practice. Recently, mindfulness has become an effective way to help manage stress and improve overall well-being. Research studies have proven its effectiveness in a variety of problem areas. Mindfulness meditation can change our brain and biology in positive ways and promote growth and healing. Mindfulness espouses the concept of being present and fully engaged in the moment and accepting whatever bodily sensations or feelings you are experiencing. From the APA, “It is then that we are free from distraction or judgement and are not overwhelmed or reactive by what is going on around us. The more we practice mindfulness, the easier it is to put ourselves in a more relaxed state.” New research has demonstrated that when you train your brain to be mindful, you are actually changing the physical structure of the brain. Clearing your head space for the joyful and positive elements of our lives and what we value and are grateful for decreases anxiety and elevates mood.

Jon Kabat-Zinn defines mindfulness meditation as “the awareness that arises from paying attention, on purpose, in the present moment and non-judgmentally.” By focusing on the breath, the idea is to cultivate attention on the body and mind as it is moment to moment, and so help with pain, both physical and emotional. Kabat-Zinn and his mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) aim to help patients cope with stress, pain, and illness. MBSR employs a combination of mindfulness meditation, body awareness, yoga and exploration of one’s behavior, thoughts, feelings and actions. It is thought of as the non-judgmental acceptance and investigation of present experience. The present can include one’s bodily sensations, internal mental states, thoughts, impulses and memories. This practice is utilized to reduce one’s suffering or distress and to increase an overall sense of well being. MSBR suggests that greater attention can be acquired, emotional self regulation is reinforced, and rumination or toxic and anxiety provoking thoughts can be kept in check. Research has proven the effectiveness of MSBR. Kabat-Zinn’s MSBR had beneficial effects on stress, anxiety, depression, quality of life and physical functioning and could be an effective adjunct for conditions such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, chronic pain, depression, and anxiety.

I incorporate a number of methodologies in the assessment, goal setting and treatment of my clients. Dr. Nathan Azrin spoke of “the kitchen sink approach.” The therapist offers the most efficacious treatments available and helps the client determine what is working best for them. My special interests include the use of CBT for anxiety and depression, relationship difficulties, eating disorders including behavioral approaches to weight loss, infertility, anger management, and coping with illness and loss. I have had post-doctoral training in cognitive behavior therapy and completed coursework with leading researchers in the fields of obsessive compulsive disorder, trauma, learning difficulties including ADHD and executive dysfunction, and eating disorders including bulimia. I have 35 years of experience treating clients via exposure to interoceptive cues, exposure and response prevention for panic disorder. I have been adjunct faculty at Wayne State University and an instructor at the University of Michigan Dearborn for undergraduate psychology. It is extremely gratifying to be able to help someone who is struggling find relief from their symptoms and feel better!