About: Who Am I Really?
Depends who you ask. If you ask Alexa, I’m an author. If you ask Google, I’m a psychotherapist or a hypnotic weight-loss therapist. If you ask me, virtual assistants are amazingly resourceful, sometimes unreliable, totally impersonal, and no substitute for real help from a trusted source.
I digress, but truth be told, I’m not all that. Yes, I’m a writer, psychotherapist and hypnotherapist. Yes, I do treat eating problems, but I’ve got no business doing weight loss.
If you ask me to hypnotize you slim, I can definitely help you eat less and enjoy food more, but I can’t shrink you to your desired size. If I only had a magic wand.
Who I really am is a Harvard Medical School-affiliated therapist, specializing in food, mood and habit change. I treat individuals and groups in person at my Concord office and on-line via teletherapy.
I’ve written one book (The Self-Compassion Diet) and countless articles for newspapers (from The Boston Globe to The LA Times), magazines (O: The Oprah Magazine, Conde Nast Traveler, Self…) and websites (NPR, The Huffington Post).
I got my BA in English from Brandeis University, MSW from Simmons School of Social Work and LICSW from the state of Massachusetts. As a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker, I’ve practiced therapy for three decades in a variety of settings (state prisons, public hospitals, community mental health centers, private practice).
I’m a member of the National Association of Social Workers, Multi-Service Eating Disorders Association, Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy, and the American Group Psychotherapy Association. I’m certified to practice hypnotherapy by the American Society for Clinical Hypnosis, the organization founded by the forefather of modern-day hypnosis – Milton Erickson.
My writing career predates my therapy practice. I made my name freelancing for newspapers and magazines, and writing a syndicated column for the LA Times Health and Fitness Wire. Since writing The Self-Compassion Diet (Sounds True, 2011), I much prefer contributing to digital publications.
I take great satisfaction in my dual career, but it wouldn’t be half as satisfying without the simple pleasure I take in lazing with my velveteen cat and a good book, running and swimming in the wilds of Concord, and baking cookies, muffins, pies… anything really.
