"I believe crisis can provide a powerful opportunity for growth; through this we can learn to make choices with clarity and live with integrity and joy."
Education and Background
I grew up as an Air Force brat during the Vietnam War, and spent my early childhood in Europe on military bases. We finally settled in Missouri, where obtained a BA in Psychology, with a Minor in Education at Columbia College, in Columbia Missouri (cum laude), and started developing my own interests as a practitioner and group leader. In 1994, I moved to Sydney, and finished my MA in Psychology at Sydney University the following year. Concurrently I worked as a journalist for the Sydney Star Observer and continued to grow my chosen and given family (current tally six children) before embarking on my final registration requirements, which were completed in 2001.
Private Practice
I've been in private practice since about 2004, after working in mental health and seeing my very first individual clients at Bankstown Women's Health Centre. What started as a little part time clinic is now full time and so busy that I've been privileged to bring on associates so that we can better meet the needs of my client base.
My clinic is wildly diverse and I like it like that. I enjoy working with adolescents, young people emerging from home into the wider community, and a good cross-section of the adult urban population. I have a particular interest in neuro-divergence, creativity, gender issues, and sexuality. Mostly, I love talking deeply and progressively, dipping into the past to create a better present.
Author
My book Normal: The True Story of a Complicated Family, a memoir exploring families, intimacy and concepts of normality, was published by Text in 2009. After many years of wondering whether I have another book in me, 2024 is the year that I complete my next one! It’s a funny, true, and most importantly helpful guidebook on how to navigate families that fall out of the “nuclear” code, whether that’s hetero, queer, blended, step, or other family paradigm. It's working name is Complicated: When Your Family Breaks the Nuclear Code, and I’ll be taking some time off this year to crack my knuckles, put my writing cap on and put some energy into this passion project!