ABOUT
Complexity
requires range.
A single vantage point rarely reveals the whole picture.
Professional
formation
A multidisciplinary foundation.
My career has moved across intelligence, humanitarian mental health, and clinical practice. I spent more than a decade in U.S. defense and intelligence, including ten years in civilian intelligence supporting U.S. Special Operations in complex conflict environments, where understanding political, social, and interpersonal dynamics was central to the work.
Since 2016, I have led humanitarian and mental health initiatives across the Middle East and East Africa, working in conflict and post-conflict settings and directly with survivors of war, displacement, and genocide, including Yazidi survivors of ISIS captivity.
Clinical practice brought that experience into sustained work with individuals, with greater attention to the internal patterns and relationships that shape how people respond to difficult circumstances.
CONTEXT
PEOPLE
SYSTEMS
INTERSECTIONS
The approach
Rigor without distance.
In psychotherapy and advisory engagements, I look beyond what is immediately apparent to the relational, psychological, and environmental dynamics shaping what is happening. I bring an analytical perspective into human complexity, with a focus on clarity, compassion, and effective action.
Clinical practice
Depth, with direction.
My clinical work integrates psychodynamic, trauma-focused, and somatic approaches, with evidence informing the work throughout. The emphasis is on a direct, in-session work with the processes underlying persistent difficulties, tailored to the individual and their goals.
Clinical work is active, analytically focused, and individualized.
Different settings.
A consistent way of working.
Across settings, the focus has remained the same: to understand what is happening in its full context, identify what matters most, and engage directly with what needs to change.
Background
My academic training spans clinical mental health counseling, political science, and women’s studies, with master’s degrees from the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, the University of California, Riverside, and UCLA, respectively.
I am a Licensed Professional Counselor in Illinois. I am not currently practicing. Illinois and California practices are coming soon.
