I began my career as a therapist over 22 years ago and am currently in private practice where I offer the following unique specialties in addition to helping clients experiencing anxiety, depression, or body image challenges: overwhelm, perfectionism, workplace mental health, and super commuters, road warriors, or frequent business travelers and their spouses. I am also a speaker, coach, and author. Details related to those services and publications can be found in the menu bar of the website.
I view therapy as a safe place to explore relationships, whether those relationships are with people (family, co-workers, partner) or things (food, money, alcohol). I also feel an important part of therapy is addressing the social, economic, and cultural influences on a person and that the process of therapy should be a collaborative one, with the client seen as the expert on their life.
Individuals may choose to focus on relationships, career dissatisfaction, self-esteem, ADHD, burnout, or how perfectionism is impacting their lives. Decreasing fear of failure is a useful goal in these scenarios as is exploring how any of these issues might relate to feelings of anxiety and depression. Topics of exploration in couples therapy sessions might include parenting strategies, the impact of the commuter regularly leaving and returning, resentment, dual career challenges, and stress management techniques. I’m curious what clients want to change as well as what is going well in their lives. What are their strengths and who is part of their support network are just a few of the questions I ask when getting to know clients.
I am the author of Super Commuter Couples: Staying Together When A Job Keeps You Apart and speak regularly to business groups and at conferences, presenting on a variety of topics. With a professional career spanning over two decades as a writer, speaker, psychotherapist, and former CPA in addition to being a mother of two and wife of a road warrior, I bring a wide range of knowledge and experience to my practice. I have first-hand experience with the challenges and benefits inherent in a super commuter relationship, relocating across the country, and changing careers. My prior work at 20th Century Fox also brings an awareness of the unique aspects of the entertainment world.
Prior to starting my private practice, my career as a therapist included working in a diverse range of settings: a middle school, a community based mental health center, a teen-to-teen hotline, a rage resolution and tattoo removal non-profit, and a program to train other community mental health professionals. These programs afforded me the opportunity to gain experience working with a variety of issues including abuse, infidelity, self-harm, body and food issues, as well as anxiety, depression, anger, and low self-esteem. I began working with clients in 2002, started my private practice in 2004, obtained my California LMFT license in 2005, and in 2009 I added a Minnesota LMFT license. I also offer consulting and coaching services. You can learn more about those options on the Consulting & Coaching tab here.
In addition to my own writing, I have contributed to articles for CNBC, Good Housekeeping, Redbook, Profiles in Diversity Journal and SHRM and have been interviewed as an expert by a variety of media outlets including the BBC, the CBS Evening News, Forbes, MarketWatch, and US News & World Report among others. You can find links to those and other interviews under the Resources tab.
EDUCATION:
Specialty Training – partial list:
- Certified Clinical Anxiety Treatment Professional Training Course
- Multi-Cultural Awareness & Diversity
- Changing the ADHD Brain: Moving Beyond Medication
- Don’t Cheat the Athlete: Developing an Effective Framework for Working with Athletes
- Centering Latinx Experiences in Clinical Services
- Working with Cross Cultural Couples
- Diagnosis and Treatment of Gifted Individuals: Avoiding Common Mistakes & Pitfalls
- Postpartum Depression
- Terry Real: Couples Experiential Workshop
- Narcissistic Abuse & Gaslighting
- Gender Identity: Advanced Clinical Studies
- CBT for Adult ADHD
- Gender Identity: Advanced Clinical Studies
- Asian American Mental Health: What You Need to Know
- Lynn Lyons on Helping Anxious Kids: A Certification Training on Anxiety Treatment for Children & Adolescents
- Treating Eating Disorders in Highly Gifted Individuals
- Depression and Existential Depression in Gifted Individuals
- Hoarding Disorder: Effective Approaches to Assessment, Diagnosis, & Treatment
- Common Misdiagnoses and Dual Diagnoses of Gifted Children and Adults
- Gifted Children And Gifted Adults: Neglected Areas Of Practice For Psychologists
- SENG-Model (Supporting the Emotional Needs of the Gifted) Parent Group Facilitator
- Girls Circle Facilitator Certification
- Community Gang Counselor Certification
Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology, 2003, Antioch University Los Angeles
Bachelor of Science in Accounting, minor in Economics, 1996, Minnesota State University-Mankato
Summa cum Laude
College of Business Student of the Year
PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS, current and prior:
Minnesota Women in Psychology
Minnesota Council for the Gifted and Talented (MCGT)
American Association for Marriage and Family Therapists (AAMFT)
Minnesota Association for Marriage and Family Therapists (MAMFT)
Team Women MN (TWMN)
Midwest Independent Publishers Association (MIPA)
BOARD OF DIRECTORS MEMBER: Former
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