BIO
A people person to my core, I have worked with a diverse range of clients including incarcerated men with mental illness, adult psychiatric patients, Holocaust survivors, gifted adolescents, persons of all genders cultural backgrounds, abilities and disabilities. For many years, I worked as a primary therapist on an inpatient psychiatric unit at a Brooklyn hospital where I regularly directed patients in original, autobiographical theatre productions. I have additional training in Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, peace building and intercultural conflict, and more than twenty years of studying and teaching somatic work . I currently work as a drama therapist for Witness Theatre, which brings together groups of Holocaust survivors and high school students to make therapeutic theatre about the survivor’s lives. I am a licensed creative arts therapist (LCAT) in the state of New York as well as a registered drama therapist (RDT) with the North American Drama Therapy Association. I earned a master’s degree in drama therapy from New York University.
Prior to becoming a therapist I spent many years teaching yoga and yoga teacher trainings at yoga studios, public schools, detention centers, and settlement houses. I am also a life-long performer / artist having worked professionally in the worlds of theatre and music since I was young. I have performed and presented work locally, regionally, and internationally.
As someone with a life-long dedication to my own growth and healing I am committed individualizing treatment and working in an ever-adaptive with clients. I continue to learn from trusted mentors, supervisors and peers, participate in trainings, read voraciously, and learn from the wonders of life itself.
MISSION
My work with clients integrates theories and methods from several traditions. I study and draw upon theory and practice from modern psychodynamic psychotherapies, relational psychoanalysis, drama therapy, somatic therapy approaches including sensorimotor psychotherapy, twenty years of studying & teaching yoga and contemplative practices from various wisdom traditions. I am influenced by antiracist and feminist frameworks, and by my work as a creative artist.
Underlying all of this is my commitment to creating a space that is both deeply human and humanizing, and prioritizes the therapeutic relationship itself. By bringing my full human self to this work (including my sense of humor), I aim to meet the full human self in others.
Informed by working with hundreds of clients over a span of 10+ years, I understand that the arc of change is different for every person and requires a therapeutic space borne of absolute acceptance, patience and care. I respect the sovereingty of each person as their own agent, and also understand that the process of deep seated change necessitates being witnessed in ways many of us have been deprived of. Ultimately, I think of myself as a kind of sacred witness. I aim to help you get to the root structure of your personal life story, and to help you untangle inherited belief systems, schemas, relationship patterns, and self concepts that keep you from living as your most authentic, free, and creative self.
I don’t believe that therapy “fixes” us, but allows for a greater capacity to make choices that aren’t bound to who we have been in the past, or who we think we are supposed to be.
Finally, I view mental health as a dynamic whole, necessitating the integration of many moving parts including physiological wellness, relationships to others, one’s emotional life, spiritual life, connection to the environment, and relationship to systems of oppression - both political or familial.
“Truth is loving and lovable. It includes all, accepts all.
It is untruth that is difficult and a source of trouble.
- Nisargatta Maharaj