Biography
I am a licensed psychologist in Kansas City, MO, with two specialty areas:
Mindfulness-Based Interventions, and Forensic Psychology.
I received my PhD in Counseling Psychology from the University of MO-Kansas City in 1995. Since that time, I have engaged in private practice (offering psychotherapy, forensic consultation, and supervision). I have also taught graduate students in Counseling Psychology (at Avila University).
I was trained in Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) in 2003 (20 hours of training with Dr. Zindel Segal), and in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) in 2007 (the week-long Mind-Body Medicine Training/Retreat with Jon Kabat-Zinn and Saki Santorelli).
I developed the curriculum for a new program called Mindfulness-Based Wellness, and taught that program in the fall of 2007. I presented research related to the successful outcomes of that program at an international conference in May of 2008.
I am currently offering mindfulness-based psychotherapy, and training programs for grad students and professionals.
Here's some information about why I use mindfulness-based interventions in my practice:
Mindfulness practice (or meditation) has been a part of every major religious and spiritual tradition for thousands of years. It has been cultivated because it is a way to move from a position of conflict to a place of peace. We all understand what it is like to live in conflict (within ourselves, and with the world around us). It may seem that our lives are full of uneasiness, dissatisfaction, and distraction. When we have a regular mindfulness practice, we feel more grounded, at peace, focused, and emotionally strong and balanced.
Now, there are scientific findings that are showing us what happens in our brains when we engage in mindfulness practice.
When people practice mindfulness (meditation), which is a type of attentional training, their brain functions improve in ways that help them to respond better to stressful and upsetting conditions and situations, like chronic pain, or upsetting thoughts. They become more peaceful, happier, and more awake and present to reality and to their own lives.
When we practice mindfulness, we are using the power of our minds to change the circuitry of our brains; and, when we do this, we find that we can achieve goals that may have always seemed un-achievable.
Universities and hospitals across the United States are offering mindfulness training to staff members as well as to patients, and they are finding that individuals who have gone through mindfulness training gain benefits in a wide variety of areas: improved stress management, enhanced well-being; increased capacity for empathy; and reductions in anxiety and symptoms of burn-out.
