Work experience
Over the past thirty years, I have helped thousands of people in a variety of settings and capacities, and have taught hundreds of social workers to become effective and compassionate clinicians. I have been trained in a wide range of approaches and modalities from individual and play therapy, family therapy and group therapy. I have served as a consultant and workshop presenter to many agencies and Boards of Education. In 2003 I opened my own practice, and since 2013 I have been working in that capacity full-time, with a greater proportion of adult clientele. In particular, I have assisted many young adults who have struggled with the transition to post-secondary education.
From 2003 to 2018 I worked as a sessional (part-time) instructor at the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto., as a member of the clinical practice MSW stream. For most of these years I created and taught psychodynamic theory and practice.
In addition, I have served as a Social Work Field Instructor for the PhD program at Smith College, the MSW program at the University of Toronto, and the BSW program at York University.
I also supervise several MSW colleagues.
From 2003- 2013 I served as the Clinical Consultant to Triple P (Positive Parenting Program) services for York Region and Simcoe County, and participated in Provincial and National planning committees for the implementation and development of Triple P in Canada.
Education
Over the course of my career, I have had the benefit of training and supervision in a wide variety of treatment approaches, including psychoanalytic, family systems, mindfulness, cognitive-behavioura,l brief and solution-focused therapies, and more recently, forest therapy.
In 2005 I completed my PhD in clinical social work at Smith College School for Social Work (MA, USA). My dissertation focused on the phenomenon of juvenile fire-setting, building on my experience with the TAPP-C program (The Arson Prevention Program for Children) as developed at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.
I earned my MSW from the University of Toronto in 1992.
I hold a Bachelor of Arts (Honors) from the University of Toronto, with a double major in Philosophy and Political Science (1988).