I think it is common for a psychologist to feel drawn to the profession initially out a desire to heal her own emotional traumas. This can actually be a good thing, since experiencing one’s own pain can hasten the development of deep empathy. While I have had my own share of trauma, I think the fact that I have always been fascinated, even as a little girl, by the way people behave helped propel me toward becoming a psychologist.

Perhaps it was my empathy that motivated me to search for more effective techniques than I learned at university, because I realized early on how frustratingly slow psychoanalysis and traditional talk therapy can be.

Though I am a Doctor of Psychology, I prefer the opportunity to assist my patients in finding the most pragmatic, efficient solutions to the challenges they face, versus focusing on a long-term analysis of their past. I get great satisfaction implementing the solution-focused coaching techniques I have developed with my patients, and then watching them create richer, more fulfilled lives as a result.