I am a clinical psychologist who is Board Certified in Neurofeedback. How I got to be doing what I am doing is a bit of a story. It is the story of finding my passion. I had the great fortune of being trained at Emory University in Atlanta, GA. This training taught me to be a clinical scientist, and to approach every new patient with curiosity and respect. But most importantly, my training taught me to think critically, keep good data, and never give up. These are skills that I employ in my work with each and every patient I see.

My training at Emory, however, did not introduce me to neurofeedback. That was to come when I started my Postdoctoral Fellowship at the prestigious Trauma Center in Boston, MA. There, my mentor Bessel van der Kolk, MD tasked me with putting together research to study the effectiveness of neurofeedback for chronic Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. That pilot study, and the subsequent randomized controlled trial that we ran both showed promising results. (They can be downloaded in the “Publications” section of this website.) More than the results of the study, my work with individual patients showed me the power of combining psychotherapy and neurofeedback. Thus, I was well on my way to becoming a neurotherapist.

After leaving the Trauma Center, I worked with uniformed service professionals in a partial hospitalization program. I had the opportunity to pioneer neurofeedback in the program, and I had the profound honor of helping our first responders live better, more balanced lives. From there, I was recruited to run a Doctoral Internship Program in Springfield, MA. As part of that program, I had the opportunity to build the world’s only internship to include training in neurofeedback. Additionally, we achieved accreditation with the American Psychological Association, which is a recognition of the quality of the training we offered. I have supervised and trained approximately 50 clinical psychologists to become neurotherapists.

Having achieved my goals with the internship, it was time to take the next step on my journey-private practice. I am excited to bring my expertise as a neurotherapist to the greater Northampton community. I work with all age ranges from children through older adults. I offer psychotherapy and neurotherapy utilizing a warm, engaging approach to the work. I have seen how early attachment relationships and experiences shape our brains and our minds. I am keenly interested in the relationship of the psychological mind to the physiological brain and body. If our bodies are not regulated, our mind is disturbed and vice versa. At the outset of any new treatment relationship, I will collaboratively work with you to find a path forward toward better, more balanced living. That may involve comprehensive assessment, talk therapy, neurofeedback, and/or other mind/body interventions.