I love my work. It’s an honor and a privilege to support people in creating positive change in their lives. 

 

My professional mission has been to partner with people who experience personal crisis, depression, anxiety, addictions, uncertainty, loss, or trauma, using a relational, attachment lens to understand them. 

 It has been a personal privilege and a professional joy to be able to help people seeking new life goals, improved clarity and energy with a mindful, trauma sensitive, validating and strength-based approach. After years of working as an on-site therapist at a local school, my goal has also become to promote greater acceptance of our human diversity and to support people who find themselves all over the rainbow of the Human Spectrum. 

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The years of professional training help me address many aspects of emotional and thought disorders, as well as issues resulting from the legacy of trauma. My personal experiences as a former Soviet refugee and a child immigrant in Israel inform my understanding of struggling that runs more than skin-deep. I chose a graduate degree in Social Work to deepen my knowledge of the societal processes that augment and aggravate deeply personal problems. 

 

I am an energetic and caring person, comfortable with people of widely differing life experiences and aspirations, and skilled at meeting people where they are, holding a safe space for them to practice self-compassion and self-care, and advocating for them in time of struggle and confusion.

 

In my spare time I parent, hike, walk my dog, study and try new hobbies – there is always something new and interesting on the horizon. 

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Since 2006 I have counseled teens and adults in my work with various agencies, including:

 

• Inpatient psychiatric services @ Kennedy Health Systems, Cherry Hill, NJ

• Partial hospitalization and intensive outpatient programs @ Hampton Behavioral Health Center, Westampton, NJ

• Marriage and family counseling @ Council for Relationships, Philadelphia, PA

• Child and Family Mental Health Services @ Sound Behavioral Health, Seattle, WA

Languages: English, Russian, Hebrew, Ukrainian

 

Volunteer work has included:

• Crisis and Suicide Prevention Helpline @ ERAN/IFOTES in Haifa, Israel 

• Counseling clients @ Center for Refugees and Survivors of Torture, Philadelphia, PA

• Counseling @ Covid shelters for clients who experience homelessness, for King County Health Department, Seattle, WA

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