“As a cancer survivor, I’ve devoted my professional and personal life to finding what makes us humans resilient enough to overcome adversity, such as chronic illness, stress, and trauma.”
What was your path to becoming a therapist?
As a cancer survivor, I’ve devoted my professional and personal life to finding what makes us humans resilient enough to overcome adversity, such as chronic illness, stress, and trauma. I’ve studied traditional and alternative healing approaches, including mindfulness practices, biofeedback, hypnosis, strength-focused interventions, and nature-based and animal-assisted therapies. My two undergraduate degrees in medical laboratory science and healthcare management were completed at a university in Germany (where I grew up). After relocating to the US, I earned my master’s degree in mental health counseling from the City University of New York.
What should someone know about working with you?
Working collaboratively is very important to me, so my integrative approach includes cognitive, holistic, and experiential therapy models as well as psychoeducation. Your opportunity for personal growth during or after stressful times, traumatic events, or illness is the priority in each session. This means creating a highly individualized counseling plan so you can achieve the goals that are important in your life. Let's find what works for you to develop stress management skills, increase your resilience, and resolve depression and anxiety.
What do you do to continue learning and building competencies as a provider?
I am currently a PhD candidate, working toward my doctorate in counselor education and supervision. Additionally, I enjoy attending professional conferences, reading psychology-related books, and listening to podcasts. I’m also involved in research studies and program evaluations.
What are you most excited about within the evolving mental health landscape?
One current development in the mental health field that I am very excited about is the increase in holistic and integrated approaches to therapy. The expanding amount of research explaining the body-mind connection from a neuroscientific paradigm is very encouraging and long overdue.
“I’ve studied traditional and alternative healing approaches, including mindfulness practices, biofeedback, hypnosis, strength-focused interventions, and nature-based and animal-assisted therapies.”