After graduating with a B.A. in English from Duke University in 1991, I worked in publishing as an editor and writer for several years. However, always drawn to the arc of narrative and the inner worlds of the characters I read and wrote about, and also seeking to be of direct help to others, I came to realize that psychology was the field that called to me in a meaningful way. I received my doctorate in clinical psychology with a focus in psychodynamic therapy in 2011 from the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, and completed my predoctoral internship at the University of Michigan's Psychological Clinic and the University Center for the Child and Family. I received clinical training at Counseling and Psychological Services at the University of Michigan, the Rutgers University Psychological Clinic, the Center for Cognitive Therapy in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Hospital's inpatient unit and outpatient clinic, and the University of Houston Psychological Clinic. After receiving my doctorate, I had additional advanced training in psychoanalytic psychotherapy through the Michigan Psychoanalytic Institute.

My professional passion for clinical psychology always co-existed with my personal passion of caring about our environment and planet. Several years ago, while also continuing my professional work, I founded and ran a grassroots nonprofit that was successful at the local, regional, and state level in deterring the oil industry from drilling near residential areas around the state and, locally, near the river that is Ann Arbor's water source. Through that experience, I was the recipient of several environmental awards and had the opportunity to be frequently interviewed in the press and on radio and television. I also was a frequent guest speaker in numerous settings, worked on legislation, and testified in front of the Michigan Senate Committee on Natural Resources, Environment, and Great Lakes.

My passions for psychology and for the environment have now come together in committing part of my private practice to climate- and ecotherapy work. Although traditionally psychologists don't always visibly bring certain values of their own into therapy, I believe that there is a moral and ethical imperative to doing so when it comes to the climate crisis. 

Though climate concerns have entered the therapy room for years, climate therapy itself is a new area of practice, and the most effective therapeutic tools to work with these concerns are evolving and being developed by leaders in the field, from whom I feel grateful to be learning.  In spring 2022, I completed climate- and ecotherapy training under the guidance of ecotherapist and clinical psychologist Thomas Doherty. On my own, I'm engaged in learning Active Hope facilitation (Joanna Macy's work) and am actively involved in ongoing education in many aspects of climate- and ecotherapy. I'm also  the liaison for state and provincial coordinators for Climate Psychology Alliance of North America, as well as CPA's state coordinator for Michigan, and I've advocated on climate change and mental health legislation to Michigan's members of Congress on behalf of the American Psychological Association.

I'm a member of the following professional organizations: 
American Psychological Association Division 39 (Psychoanalysis and Psychoanalytic Psychology), Division 34 (Environmental, Population, and Conservation Psychology), and Division 12 (Clinical Psychology); Climate Psychology Alliance of North America; Psychotherapy Action Network; International Association for Relational Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy; Michigan Psychological Association; Michigan Council for Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy; Washtenaw Psychological Society; and Michigan Clinicians for Climate Action.