About me...
I graduated from Texas Tech University with a BA in psychology and in 1990, I graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Master of Science in Social Work (MSSW). I chose Social work because it placed a heavy emphasis on the person in his or her social context. That made sense to me. We are part of a family, of a school or workplace, a community or church group and all of that plays into who we are.
I have lived on the East Coast while my husband was in graduate school, and the first place I received my license as a clinical social worker (LCSW) was in Connecticut. We then moved to Los Angeles where we lived for 9 years. In LA I wore several hats over the course of 9 years. I was an adjunct faculty member at Pepperdine University for most of those years, and I also worked in hospice, a major medical center, a counseling center and finally at Santa-Monica UCLA Rape Treatment Center where I greatly improved my skills at working with victims of sexual trauma.
Upon moving back to Texas in 2003, I worked for a short time in private practice and then in a church setting. I was honored to be invited to start a non-profit and we opened the doors in 2006. After working there for over 4 years, I thought it was time for me to move out on my own, and opened a private practice in January, 2011.
In 2005, I was fortunate to be introduced to Relational Life Therapy (RLT) and learn from Terry Real, who is the relational expert on Good Morning America and the founder of RLT. I completed the training as a Relational LIfe Therapist and am skilled in working with difficult couples, as well as with those who just want to improve their marital relationship. In 2008, I was introduced to the concept of Collaborative Divorce and was trained as a neutral Mental Health Professional who helps couples divorce in a dignified and civil manner with collaboratively trained attorneys and financial professionals. And then in 2015 I completed basic training for EMDR, which is a very effective treatment modality for trauma and PTSD.
I have spoken in many settings over a variety of topics such as Depression and Anxiety, Date Rape and Date Rape Drugs, Dating Violence Prevention, and Sexual Abuse Prevention in the Workplace (including churches).
Lastly, my areas of specialty are marital and relationship issues, trauma, grief-work, depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorders, physical, emotional and sexual abuse, and parenting. This is by no means an exhaustive list of client issues that I can help with, but this hopefully gives you an idea of how I may be able to assist you.