debra2

I'm a therapist who has been in private practice since 2000 and in the field of human development since the early 1990's.  I'm a Phoenix native who grew up working for my father's construction company.  My background in business has served me well over the years as corporate politics are a part of everyone's life in some way.

 

As I sought to better understand my own challenges, limitations, and inner workings, in my 20's, I engaged in counseling and was fascinated by what I learned about myself. This led me to a deep and meaningful spiritual and psychological quest.  The initial result of my journey was a desire to return to graduate school, which I did.  I earned a MA with highest honors in counseling psychology from Northern Arizona University.

 

As a younger woman, I thought I was wired differently because I was so self conscious and didn't measure up, no matter how popular I was or how successful.  I wanted to understand myself and my place in the world so that I could feel comfortable in my own skin.  At the time, I wanted to be like everyone else, to fit in, and belong or I wanted to at least be able to answer the important questions of being.  But it never worked out that way.  And, not fitting in was the greatest gift of my life.  I began to realize I couldn't rely on someone else to tell me who I am.  I had to sift through the layers of inherited values and chose what was true for me and release what wasn't.  I had to figure it out for myself.  And I did.  After many years of diligent searching, I've learned the value of self-reflection, how to listen and follow my heart and intuition, and to keep my thinking brain awake and integrated, at least most of the time.

As a therapist, my role is to be a travel guide and midwife for my clients as they navigate the sacred territory of their heart and soul, then access and reclaim their own internal resources and unique identity. 

 

In particular, I specialize in working with family systems using the framework of attachment which is a basic biological need for safety, love, and connection.  I also work to heal trauma, big and small caused from catastrophic life threatening events like 9/11, neglect or abuse from childhood, loss and grief, and the many different ways that we humans experience pain.  For one reason or another, no one gets through life unscathed.  The strategies we develop to manage our pain in childhood stay with us and sometimes become their own challenge as adults.  It's amazing, though, to witness people get back on the path of being who they're truly meant to be.

 

I'm also a bonafide nerd who regularly reads everything I can get my hands on from neurobiology to novels.  I keep trying to put the pieces of the big picture together, the pieces of who I am and what is the meaning of my life, not in a perfectionistic way, but one of open wonder, curiosity and a bit of Sherlock Holmes.  I also feel incredibly alive when I travel and hike through beautiful countrysides around the world.