After seven years of study, I am thrilled to be here celebrating my graduation with you! CPPNJ has provided me with such an ample, expansive environment to grow professionally, emotionally and intellectually: I am proud to be a member of this community.

My passions extend to nature, outdoor sports (with an emphasis on skiing), and adventure travel. I love laughing, music, words, writing, pottery, gardening, sharing meals and movies (and all sorts of other every day moments) with loved ones, and most especially, with my husband, Gary. 

I am thrilled to have completed the CPPNJ Program in Psychoanalysis.   I greatly appreciate the support I have received from the faculty and the camaraderie I have developed with fellow candidates. 

After graduating from the University of Florida with a BA in history, I remained as a researcher, interviewing residents in rural Florida as part of an epidemiological study evaluating mental health needs.  This experience sparked my interest in studying social work.  I received my MSW from Yeshiva University in 1973.  Since then, I have continuously worked in the mental health field, first as a clinician and supervisor at South Beach Psychiatric Center in Brooklyn, and then on the acute care psychiatric unit of Saint Joseph's Hospital in Paterson.  While working at Saint Clare's Hospital I received training in Short-Term Dynamic Psychotherapy, and also during that time in Alcoholism Studies at Rutgers University.  I acquired certification in the field of Employee Assistance and became the first EAP Coordinator and Counselor at the Warner-Lambert Pharmaceutical Company in Morris Plains where I remained for eight years.  I hold Clinical Social Work licensure in NJ and NY and am also a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist in NJ.

I began my full-time private practice in 1987.   Life became more manageable several years later with the addition of my home office in Florham Park, where I continue to work and live with my husband, Dennis, and where we raised our now-grown daughters, Abigail and Danielle.   Other loves:  traveling, exercise, gardening and collecting Native American pottery and art.

I strive to integrate contemporary self psychology, relational and object relations theories.  Understanding the unconscious forms the theoretical underpinning of my work.  In my practice I work with adolescents, adults, couples and families who are grappling with relational problems, anxiety disorders, depression, substance abuse and trauma.  I especially enjoy helping adolescents and young adults as they achieve greater autonomy and develop their unique identities.   

I feel very happy, proud, and grateful to the faculty, supervisors, colleagues, and my analyst, who have helped me complete the three year program in psychoanalytic psychotherapy at CPPNJ. It is an honor to be part of this community of people who in an age of tweets and texts and short term protocol treatments, stay the course of truly listening and attuning to the unique and evolving human experience. 

I live in Westfield, New Jersey with my husband, where we 'emigrated' from New York City to raise our two children, who have now immigrated back to New York City, full circle.  Currently, I manage an Outpatient and Specialized Youth Services Programs at a community based mental health agency, Family Connections, in Orange, New Jersey. We treat families who have suffered multiple stressors including poverty, racism, immigration, and complex relational trauma.   I also have a private practice in Westfield New Jersey where I see individuals, families, couples, children to adults.  Before entering CPPNJ I also trained as a family therapist at the Ackerman Institute for the Family in New York City, graduating with a certificate in family therapy in 2008.  I graduated from New York University with an MSW in clinical social work in 2004. My undergraduate degree was Psychology with a minor in the Social Sciences.

The way to this moment has indeed been varied.   Actually, my psychoanalytic training may have begun as a small child in a basement of a two story row home in Baltimore, Maryland, in a working class urban neighborhood, where parents were overwhelmed, overworked, and houses were overcrowded.  In the basement, however, I played piano, painted pictures, danced with a scarf like someone I had viewed on television, to a 45 RPM record called "Anastasia."  The minor chords called to an interior life, a longing, a curiosity, that perhaps was a building block of a reflective process that leads me woof and warp to this day.   

I also spent twenty years in the arts. I graduated in 1977 from NYU Tisch School of the Arts in Dance and choreography. I was a percussionist and had also studied painting and composition at the Maryland Institute of Art.  During my children's school years I utilized these varied experiences by developing and implementing a hands-on art appreciation program in local elementary schools. I fondly remember viewing Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night, showing his use of thick brush strokes, and then applying brightly colored icing on large sugar cookies.  I now find that my previous music, arts, and movement training have become useful in weaving in modalities such as expressive arts, play therapy, music, movement, sensorimotor psychotherapy, EMDR, etc. to help traumatized and disregulated individuals and families access and express experiences not always accessible with talk therapy alone. 

This has been an incredible journey for me and I am thrilled to be graduating. My experience at CPPNJ is everything I hoped for and more. I have made wonderful colleagues and friends and found my work with patients and my life enlivened by all I have learned in classes, supervision, and my analysis.

I live in Westfield with my husband Jack, and our daughters Rebecca and Molly, who were eight and four when I started this training and are now delightful young women finishing their freshman years in college and high school. I love reading, hiking, playing scrabble, singing with my harmonizing family, spending time with my friends, and taking long walks with my adorable labradoodle.

I have a private practice in Summit where I work with individuals, couples, and families, often dealing with mood disorders, anxiety, substance abuse, attention deficit disorder, parenting, and life cycle issues. I have an MSW from Boston University, a certificate in family therapy from The Ackerman Institute for the Family, and a certificate from NYU School of Social Work in substance abuse treatment. I worked at NYU Medical Center for six years on in-patient medical and psychiatric units and at St. Vincent's Hospital for two years on an in-patient psychiatry unit and six years in a day treatment program. I supervised social work students and co-taught a family therapy course for psychiatry residents. I also taught family therapy for two years at Fordham University Graduate School of Social Services.

Thank you to all the wonderful people who have contributed to my training.