About Me

Born and raised in Brooklyn (mostly) I can't say I always knew I'd end up in the field of mental health or that it was a dream of mine as a kid. Like most little kids, being in the medical field was what my parents wanted for me and I did well in school so I thought the same. But then life actually started. You know, those issues that don't go away when "Darkwing Duck" or "All That" comes on (may be dating myself a little). Anyway, when those experiences started happening, I needed more help than what I was used to and definitely more than what my family would be able to give.  I was lucky enough to have a mental health counselor in school; someone apart from the guidance counselor. But even after that, I still didn't know what mental health was, let alone major depression. It wasn't until doing a clinical rotation in nursing school that I knew psych was more than people who saw things that weren't there or spoke to themselves.  As I got more interested, I started realizing some of the jobs I took in college were related to the field and I enjoyed it. I liked listening to friends problems or trying to find a way to make things better; make the person feel special outside of what was bothering them. Fast forward to being a registered nurse- i got the chance to work in a psych prison full time and did substance abuse/detox part time for 5 years (still trying to figure out when i slept doing both of those, having a social life and, then adding my masters to it (insert covered face emoji). But it got done. I went on to become a Psych NP because I wanted more of a say in my patients treatments. Yea the nurse administered meds and did reports, assessments, etc....but I still answered to someone about when these things had to be done and most importantly what the treatment should be. That didn't work for me. I wanted to be an active part of the beginning, middle and ending of my patient's treatments; not just someone who followed orders- hence the NP in my title now. 

I can't say its gotten easier with each new level of education; there is always a client that makes you wonder if you're built for this-- funny thing is....that makes me love this field more. I like the challenge and I like knowing that I can help in some way; even if that means connecting you to someone who can help more than I can. The goal is healing and living your best life, not who made that happen, because at the end of the day, that's the client. They choose to follow your suggestions or treatment plan, they go to therapy and choose what they share; they make the choice to want better than what they currently have....everyday. I can only say I'm humbled that people have trusted me to be part of that process. I'm up to learn, and help, as much as I can because I know what it's like to feel you have nowhere else to go.