I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who has been in practice for over 25 years. I have a private practice in Fairfax, Virginia serving adults. I specialize in Trauma informed care and Trauma Reprocessing. I am a Certified Trauma Specialist and hold Certifications in both EMDR and the treatment of Adult Children of Narcissistic Parents. I am Licensed in DC, MD and Virginia.
Education and Training
I graduated from Randolph Macon Woman’s College in 1992 with a BA in Psychology and a MSW from Norfolk State University in 1994. I was a recipient of a Child Welfare Grant from the State of Virginia during graduate school. This grant led me to the District of Columbia where I was a therapeutic foster and adoptions care worker for Family and Child Services of Washington D.C.
In 1996 I received my LCSW and began more intense specialized training in trauma at the Pediatric Trauma Center at the Kennedy Krieger Institute. I was trained there as a play and family therapist working with children and their families who were victims of physical and sexual abuse. I supervised graduate interns and staff as well.
I began my specific trauma training under the “Family Live” model. In this model, therapists address inter-generational trauma with parents using a strengths-based approach and trauma informed engagement strategies.
In conjunction with this training, I trained under Marianne Walters, LCSW of the Family Practice Center in Washington, D.C. Both experiences allowed me to learn the art of solution/short-term focused therapy, cognitive, family, and psychoanalytic therapies.
I have also been trained in Mindfulness, Sensorimotor Psychotherapy, and Internal Family Systems (IFS), and incorporate these techniques when appropriate. I am certified in EMDR and provide trauma reprocessing through this protocol, both in person and virtually. I am also certified in the treatment of Adult Children of Narcissistic Parents and completed levels 1-4 of Janina Fisher’s “Working with the Neurobiological Legacy of Trauma” and am a Certified Trauma Specialist. I have also completed the Level 1 of The Ferentz Institute’s Trauma Certificate Program.
I specialize now in work with all adults around anxiety/mood disorders, trauma reprocessing/grief/loss, unhealthy relationship patterns, and family of origin issues. My family work revolves around improving communication skills, resolving conflict, and supporting/coaching of parenting skills, including short-term therapy around parenting.
Professional Affiliations
- International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation
- National Association of Social Workers
- Greater Washington Society of Clinical Social Workers
- Trained and Paneled Therapist for “Daughters of Narcissistic Mothers”