My Story

My PhD is in Clinical-Community Psychology from the University of South Carolina. This unique program emphasized seeing the big picture of wellbeing: how people's mental state is affected by their life experiences, genetics, families, communities, and societal expectations. While completing my degree I trained rigorously in psychotherapy and assessment, working at inpatient substance rehabilitation facilities, medical clinics, and community mental health centers. I completed my predoctoral internship residency at the Durham VA Medical Center with rotations in behavioral medicine, integrated primary care, older adult services, post-deployment adjustment, and general mental health. During my postdoctoral fellowship I worked intensively with trauma cases. Throughout my training I completed supervised practice in interventions for complex trauma, insomnia, pain, chronic illness, anxiety, OCD, and suicide prevention, among others. My clinical specialty is the intersection of trauma, emotional intensity (such as anxiety, anger, and interpersonal problems), and health.

The dual doctoral degree also prepared me to support healthcare organizations and community agencies as a community psychologist and implementation scientist. You can see some of my research publications on these topics here. Beyond my clinical practice I am a researcher with the Department of Veterans Affairs.