“The spark that led to my career switch was 9/11 — after the tragedy, I volunteered for several months at Ground Zero Food Services and followed this with two years manning a suicide hotline before enrolling in social work school.”
What was your path to becoming a therapist?
My first career was as a journalist and magazine editor; like psychotherapy, it involved the art of listening and having empathy for others. The spark that led to my career switch was 9/11 — after the tragedy, I volunteered for several months at Ground Zero Food Services and followed this with two years manning a suicide hotline before enrolling in social work school.
What should someone know about working with you?
After a “get to know you” 30-minute complimentary telephone consultation, our first session is a detailed intake where I gently explore your history as well as your treatment goals. I assign homework between sessions since the lasting work of therapy doesn't just happen in 50-minute chunks.
What do you do to continue learning and building competencies as a provider?
I continue taking classes and training to keep current on breakthroughs in the field. I never want to grow complacent in my abilities and viewpoints.
How do your core values shape your approach to therapy?
My parents endured extreme prejudice and torture in Eastern Europe before immigrating to the US, meeting, and raising a family, which imbues me with a sense of survivorship, compassion, and tolerance. I have also traveled widely, which helps me in treating clients from radically different backgrounds. Ultimately, my life experience has shown me that no matter how different we are, we are still all the same.
“My parents endured extreme prejudice and torture in Eastern Europe before immigrating to the US, meeting, and raising a family, which imbues me with a sense of survivorship, compassion, and tolerance.”