My earliest clinical experience was with individuals facing serious and/or chronic trauma including severe PTSD resulting from various forms of violence and abuse such as sexual violence, carceral violence, systemic violence, discrimination, and oppression. I have worked with veterans transitioning from the military to civilian life, incarcerated individuals, individuals involved in the criminal justice system, LGBQ, T/GNB, and sex worker survivors of sexual and/or interpersonal violence. I have extensive training in conducting both individual and group therapy sessions and have worked in public college, non-profit agency, and private practice settings including Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) Veterans Resource Center, Project for Renewal and Opportunity in Veterans Education (PROVE), Brooklyn Defender Services, and The Anti-Violence Project NYC.

Before attending graduate school for social work, I enjoyed a 15-year career as a professional chef during which I received extensive training in a wide array of health, nutrition, diet, and culinary approaches; itself an inquiry spurred by my interest in the body-mind connection, training as a yoga teacher, and experiences as a meditation and movement student. I am a practicing artist and received a BFA from Maine College of Art where I studied interdisciplinary sculpture, performance, and feminist art theory.

My “past career” and experience with food, health, and movement must have somehow propelled me to my current professional setting here at Columbus Park. Since joining the Columbus Park team, I’ve received comprehensive training in Enhanced Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT-E), the leading transdiagnostic model for eating disorders. I completed Foundational training in Dialectical Behavior Therapy from the premier training institute, Behavioral Tech and Intensive DBT-Prolonged Exposure for PTSD by Melanie Harned, PhD and Lorie Ritschel, PhD. Additional treatments in my repertory include Family-Based Treatment for childhood and adolescent eating disorders, Specialist Supported Clinical Management (SSCM) for severe and enduring anorexia, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy and Exposure Response Prevention.

I view the therapeutic relationship I share with my clients as the most valuable tool for our work together. This means that I engage with my clients as an equal and with authenticity, humor, and emotion. I think a lot about social context and the ways our environment shapes us, especially considering systems of power, oppression, and privilege. My approach to therapy is grounded in intersectional, anti-oppressive, fat justice, queer, feminist, and gender theories, as well as my own experiences as a non-binary (they/she) queer person. I embrace diversity in all forms and maintain a therapy environment that is genuine, non-judgmental and social justice informed.

College: Maine College of Art, BFA in Sculpture

Graduate: Hunter College (CUNY) Silberman School of Social Work, Master of Social Work

Licensed: NY State, LMSW