My Background

For more than 35 years, I had the honor and the privilege to walk this sacred healing journey with those who are struggling, hurting, traumatized, and sometimes numb and frozen and who want to come back to life and to be able to heal, change, and grow. I have witnessed so many miraculously transformed lives as my clients have courageously: engaged in the healing process. I have a Master’s Degree in Clinical Psychology from the New School in NYC and Postgraduate Training from the Institute of Modern Psychoanalysis.

As a bilingual psychotherapist in NYC I have worked in community mental health settings as well as my home office private practice and have worked with both English and Spanish-speaking clients including children, adults, couples, and families. I believe this deep work of healing is a calling and one that is extremely sacred. My clients have taught me so much over the years, and the strong bonds we’ve developed have blessed us both. I have had many years of therapy, which I believe is essential for all therapists to truly be able to authentically show up and make a difference. .

I have worked as a consultant for Mothers Without Custody and have appeared on TV and radio discussing the traumatic effects on children who are separated from their mothers. I have conducted workshops for women on Codependent Relationships and Healing Inner Wounds and focused on breaking unhealthy patterns in relationships which are often directly related to the effects of trauma. For the past 15 years, I have served in the Prison Ministry at Riker’s Island Prison ministering to the women who are incarcerated. So many of the women that I have come to know at Rikers have a history of trauma(s) that began with childhood attachment trauma. and childhood sexual abuse.

I see my role as symbolically taking off the "grave clothes" so that those that have been walking in bondage (emotionally, mentally, physically, and spiritually) can become fully alive as you courageously stretch, change, grow and heal...and begin to see victory in areas of your life that you thought were impossible!

Working As A Trauma Therapist In NYC On 9/11And During The Pandemic

When the World Trade Center fell on 9/11, I was two blocks away. As a trauma therapist working and living in Tribeca, I soon had many more traumatized clients walking through my door who needed help, hope, and healing from the effects of experiencing the trauma of that day. Many of my clients are survivors of childhood attachment trauma, sexual abuse, and physical and emotional abuse, and 9/11 was a “reinjury” that brought up unhealed emotional wounds caused by previous traumas and repressed memories which then became more conscious and more painful to continue to avoid.. For many, this was the appointed time to begin the healing process as they were no longer able to “run and hide” from the physical, emotional, and spiritual effects of their trauma(s)

The Pandemic was a mass trauma for all of us and during that time as well as now we all live in times of more uncertainty. So many of the clients who began therapy with me during the Pandemic and continue to seek therapy now have been trauma survivors who had never addressed their trauma history and wounds though these “wounds” had been running their lives. The Pandemic made it extremely difficult for many to continue to avoid their pain and brokenness any longer... Many more men who were resistant to seeking help and breaking the silence of childhood sexual abuse are now coming forth courageously to get the help that is so needed. During the time of being shut in without the usual distractions, the unhealed wounds of the past painfully surfaced and there was nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. So many trauma survivors have become more emotionally shut down and depressed as well as anxious as an effect of the reinjury of the Pandemic and isolation that getting help had finally become more essential. I saw clients on Zoom for the first two weeks of the Pandemic and then only in person.. I believed and still believe in person therapy has many more benefits than working virtually and have seen the fruit of that belief over and over again.

I have learned so much over the years about the effects of trauma and PTSD as well as this amazing healing journey from the collaborative relationships that have been formed with my clients and about how deeply trauma has affected every area of their lives from the inside out. The essential element in the healing process is an “authentic collaborative therapeutic relationship”.. During this reparative process, my clients begin to identify and work through the effects of trauma(s) in" the present” .We cannot heal the past in the past as healing can only take place in the present. You can become more aware of how the body reflects and holds the emotions and memories that were not able to be felt or processed and got “stuck” in the body.. Now for the first time, you can begin to feel “safe” in your own body..

I have been in private practice for many years and work from my home office. I provide a comfortable. peaceful and calm and quiet space where my clients can begin to trust and “ feel safe” with themselves and with another person (often for the first time in their lives) and secure and assured of privacy. It is an extremely pet-friendly space as my nine -nine-and-a-half-year-old Shih Tzu: Mercy Shalom adds to clients feeling even more calm and relaxed...

My Faith

Pain is certainly a part of everyone’s life journey.. Yet suffering also provides an opportunity to stretch and grow. In the midst of valley experiences, there can be great restoration and reparation and healing and then doors can open in your heart to feel joy! My relationship with Yeshua (Jesus) for the past 27 years is the foundation of my faith and my life. He is the reason I have seen such incredible healing in my life and the lives of my clients. 

Please note that I am not talking about religion: but about a relationship, as I know that if He does not show up, my labor is truly in vain. I continually pray for His anointing, direction, and guidance, to have His heart and eyes, ears,: to be used by Him daily, and more than anything: for His presence. Whether you have a spiritual hunger or not, know I will cover you in prayer. I believe that you will experience His loving presence during our sessions.

Many of my clients have believed that they were unworthy and unlovable and carried so much shame and guilt from rejection and abandonment as well as histories of trauma and abuse... Whether you are a believer or someone spiritually searching or have no spiritual interest or foundation I can begin to help you to not live your life believing the lies you have believed about yourself and recognize that you are valuable as your value is not based on all of your poor choices and mistakes nor on your accomplishments and that each of us is precious to God. You can be restored and healed. The lies we have believed about ourselves are a big part of what keeps us in bondage. We are all a work in progress. “You Shall Know The Truth and The Truth Shall Set You Free.”!