I am a Licensed Psychologist in the State of Georgia. I have worked within the field of Mental Health since 1985. Early in my career, I developed community-based programs to serve children from single-parent families, socioeconomicaly disadvantaged environments, and alternative-to-school-suspension programs.
I also spent eight years working with Emergency Shelter, Residential Group Home, and Runaway or Homeless children whose lives had been rocked by issues related to trauma, abuse, neglect, violence, mental health problems, delinquency, conduct problems, and poor communication. My Master's paper focused on Developing a Social Support and Intervention Network for Troubled Adolescents. Upon completing my doctoral dissertation entitled Self-Mutilation in Child and Adolescent Group Home Populations, I graduated in 1999 summa cum laude from Walden University with a Clinical Psychology specialization and quickly secured my license so that I could go into private practice.
From 1997-2001, I worked primarily with National Alliance Treaty Organization (NATO) and Strategic Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) military families in Belgium, first as a psychologist on an early-intervention, interdisciplinary team that evaluated preschool and school-aged children, and then next as a Clinical Psychologist with Social Work Services-referred families. I started my first private practice in Belgium in 1999 through SHAPE's Health Clinic serving civilians and service members. For many of the returning soldiers, reunification with their families was sorely complicated by Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder following frontline deployment(s). I also worked with expatriate families struggling to cope with the myriad stressors thrust upon them by virtue of moving to a new culture.
Once I returned to the USA in 2001 after eight years living abroad, I again went into private practice, working with individuals, couples, and families from Rockdale and Newton counties. My "part-time practice" rapidly swelled into a full-time commitment. Somewhere along the way though, I started feeling that maternal guilt that plagues most working mothers. I decided to take a sabbatical for a few years, so that I could focus on my two young daughters and our family-owned company, working alongside of my husband of 23 years. Working out of our home for several years (since 2007), I discovered marketing and public relations skills that I never knew I possessed; apparently, clinical training is a real plus when trying to comprehend consumers' motivations. Once my children were old enough though, I decided it was time to return to my other passion, Clinical Psychology.