In 1995 on my way back to Washington DC from Boston, On the flight I read a breakthrough book on Adult ADHD. The book was Driven to Distraction by Edward Hallowell ©1994. On pages 70-73 there was a proposed questionnaire of 21 questions to assess adult ADHD.

I scored 20.5 out of the 21 and by the time we arrived, light bulbs of inspiration, self-recognition, and clarity of purpose were already full blown. It felt like a combination of profound joy, received wisdom, and catharsis!

I knew in those moments that dedicating myself to working in the field of ADHD would become my passion and mission. I was also profoundly aware that this new perspective gave answers to the many unsolved questions  of my own lifelong struggle with Adult ADHD.

Thus I view my clients, through the lens of belonging to the same Tribe as myself. And the Tribe, myself included has strengths and deficits. I focus first on the strengths and later on the deficits.

From to work with ADHD I quickly enlarged my understanding to address anxiety and depression. ADHD invariably leads to depression and anxiety, from mild to severe and invariably leads to challenges with interpersonal relationships and profound challenges to meeting one’s potential in career, education, and well-being. Over the years I’ve also developed expertise in a wide range of anxiety and depressive disorders. Later with PTSD and sexual dysfunction, and various combinations of all.

Digging deeper I’ve also focused on the existential questions of identity and meaning.

Fundamentally my most important credential is born of life experience; including wisdom gained from the hundreds of people that I hopefully have helped, working in a heartfelt way with boldness of vision.

Using CBT, Solution Focused, Brief Therapy, Life Coaching, Grief and Trauma Counseling, Mindfulness, and Existential Psychology, we’ll collaborate in the search for effective solutions to problems that previously seemed unsolvable.

Wisdom and empathy, structure and humor, flow and mindfulness; are some of my tools. In crisis or transition, the mind and heart are potentially wide open for change. I help people find their potential via the self-actualization ideas of Abraham Maslow and the Positive Psychology movement, who’ve developed a comprehensive index called Character Strengths and Virtues

My approach is interactive and collaborative, and I share my own experiences when relevant. I engage clients to make every session count with hopefully a specific takeaway. This reflects my training in Brief Therapy and incorporates a psychoeducational approach; having been a public school teacher and later a seminar instructor in psychology. 

The social work theme “person in environment” instructs us to explore what’s going on in the culture, economy, and politics, and its impact on my clients. We confront both the macro and micro issues.

I’m perceived as a dynamic and intellectual person who brings things down to earth for people of all socioeconomic backgrounds. I have traveled extensively exploring cultures worldwide with intense curiosity and openness. I speak some Spanish and Hebrew, not fluently, but I continue to be engaged with both languages and cultures.