I grew up in a family of classical musicians, the youngest of four kids. I attended the Manhattan School of Music in New York City, with the goal of winning a principal oboe position with a symphony orchestra. Shortly before my college graduation, my mother passed away suddenly. A year later, while pursuing my graduate degree at MSM, I lost a dear loved one to suicide, and my father died a short time later. I had struggled for many years with episodes of depression and feeling isolated, and I carried a sense of deep shame. Just before the death of my mom, I began seeing a therapist for the first time. Over a period of 10 years, I tried working with several therapists with varied expertise (psychodynamic, CBT, DBT, eclectic), but they never seemed to help. I wasn’t happier. Life wasn’t easier. I felt disconnected, lost, lonely, and filled with shame. Until I discovered the Gestalt method.

Alongside my love of music, helping others and being of service had been lifelong interests, so I pursued a second master's degree in social work from Columbia University. Yet it wasn’t until I completed graduate school that I was introduced to the Gestalt method by my first clinical supervisor, who used the approach to guide the way she lived her life and our work together. That’s when I consider Gestalt Psychotherapy to have found me. I went on to complete the clinical fellowship program and certification at Gestalt Associates for Psychotherapy in New York.

Gestalt therapy training is arduous, in-depth, and rigorous. As part of the certification training, students must attend weekly individual and group therapy with a Gestalt therapist throughout their study. Through the work, I gained an enormous appreciation for the experiential, present-centered, and relational techniques integral to the process. The participatory training created a space for me to be completely known by others, and to know myself. I developed relationships in which it felt safe to be seen, heard, validated, and challenged. In learning to experience feelings as feelings and not as facts, I was able to heal wounds suffered long ago, so that they became part of my story, rather than the definition of who I am. This is the self-awareness and healing I bring to others through my practice.

I received my degree in clinical social work from Columbia University, with a concentration in health, mental health, and disabilities. I completed my residency at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, and I've been a practicing therapist since 2002.

Before establishing my private practice, I worked in a vast array of settings, including inpatient psychiatric units, outpatient community mental health clinics, day-treatment programs, and as a clinician for a health insurance company. I've served active-duty military and veterans in the treatment of substance dependence and PTSD, and supervised a methadone clinic in Harlem in New York City. My volunteer work included serving as a mentor in a teenage pregnancy and parenting program, and as a domestic violence advocate, working with vulnerable and at-risk populations of women. I'm licensed to practice therapy in New York, North Carolina, Texas, and Washington State.

In our current healthcare system, therapy is often viewed as a treatment for an illness or disorder, or reserved for individuals in crisis. By contrast, I think of therapy as a tool to build on what's right in your life. In-depth psychotherapy can be best utilized after crises have been addressed and urgent issues resolved. In our work together, I don't "analyze" you to determine what's "wrong." In fact, I'm not here to judge or change anything about you. Our relationship is a collaborative one that requires safety and trust, so we can engage with authenticity, curiosity, humor, and candor.

Gestalt therapy is considered to be a creative form of talk therapy and is uniquely versatile, providing a range of tools and techniques that allow us to expand beyond traditional talk therapy. There’s no particular way a therapy session might look, as each is unique to your needs and the co-creation of our relationship. Every session provides an opportunity for a wide range of work to be done and for different parts to emerge, and each time we meet may feel different than the last. Our work together may include education, role play, active experimentation, guided imagery techniques, and body-centered activities designed to help you develop greater self-awareness. We'll address how you experience emotions in your body and the physical expression of your feelings. The process is creative and active, teaching you to focus on the here and now, building your self-awareness in the present moment.

What Is Gestalt?
There is no direct translation in the English language that describes the meaning of the German word “Gestalt.” The term is best understood as a pattern, and it refers to the way something comes together and takes shape. Known as the first true American psychotherapy, the Gestalt approach originated with Fritz and Laura Perls, who brought their theories from Germany to the United States shortly after World War II.

Gestalt therapy is an experiential, relational therapy based on mindfulness and present-centered awareness that draws heavily from Gestalt psychology, existential philosophy, Zen Buddhism, and Taoism. The Gestalt approach understands that human beings perceive entire patterns or configurations, not merely individual components. This is why when we see a group of dots arranged as a triangle, we see a triangle instead of random dots. Our brains organize information into complete configurations or "gestalts."

As the field evolves with the culture around us, the Gestalt approach is continually informed by evidence-based research and a consideration of the broader social environment and its impact on development, behaviors, patterns, and habits. At its heart, Gestalt therapy looks at how the different aspects, or parts, of ourselves come together to form an integrated whole.