From the beginning of my training at Northwestern University, where I earned my graduate degree in counseling psychology in 2009, I’ve helped scores of people dealing with a variety of problems: depression and anxiety, substance abuse, and combinations thereof – what’s known as dual diagnosis – for starters. I know the desperation, fear and hopelessness that can attend them firsthand: Before I was a psychotherapist, I was a patient, struggling with those same disorders and eventually, forging a path to healing.

I was lucky to have some excellent help along the way, and you can too.

My practice and experience isn’t limited to that, however. In a community mental health center like the one I worked in for a number of years, you welcome whomever comes in the door, and whatever struggles they bring with them. I’ve treated people with everything from schizophrenia to PTSD, from painful divorces to professional setbacks and stresses. As the Roman playwright Terence said, I am human, and nothing human is alien to me.

Beyond my work as a psychotherapist, I’m a big Chicago Blackhawks fan (even before 2010!) and an occasional mediocre hockey player myself. I swim, I bike, I run. I’ve lived in Budapest, Hungary, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, in my former capacity as writer, editor and journalist.

It’s been a long, strange trip. I hope our paths will cross and I can be of service to you.