As a psychologist, I work as a clinical liaison treating children hospitalized with acute and chronic medical conditions. I treat children of all ages, and when the patient is an infant, I provide support to parents throughout the child’s hospitalization.

My specialty is in new diagnoses of functional disorders during initial hospitalization. I help patients and caregivers understand the diagnosis and the skills they need for recovery. I also make recommendations for transition to home while they await outpatient treatments.

I also practice in the following areas:

Telehealth. From 2003-2012, I worked in Dr. Shari Wade's lab at Cincinnati Children’s to explore the application of a manualized treatment via telehealth with children who sustain a traumatic brain injury. I assisted with the development of the interventions and implemented treatment.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI). Through telehealth, I was able to offer TBI expertise to families who lived far from the hospital who otherwise would not be able to engage in regular treatment.

Transgender patients. I engage in regular education to work with transgender patients hospitalized for medical conditions that are not related to gender reassignment.

Kidney and liver transplantation. I work with the transplant team, where I do outpatient non-related live donor assessments for prospective donors of a kidney or liver for transplantation.

Pediatric rehabilitation. I have done inpatient clinical work with pediatric rehabilitation patients and worked for many years as a rehabilitation psychologist.

My professional goals have transitioned from treating severe mental illness to age-related brain disorders in the geriatric population to working with children with traumatic brain injury. I find it very satisfying to help children and caregivers navigate hospitalization, new diagnoses, chronic medical conditions and pediatric recovery.

I am always honored when a patient and family allow me to share their experience and are open to my suggestions for managing what are often life-altering medical conditions. I continue to learn from my patients and use these opportunities to improve my clinical skills.

My care philosophy includes empathy, validation, skill-building and problem-solving. I also help patients with behavioral activation and processing thoughts, feelings and experiences.

In my free time, I love to garden and cook. I regularly run/walk 5Ks. I attended and graduated from college and graduate school as a single parent and nontraditional student. I am a newlywed, having married my husband, Charles, on May 18, 2019.