Office Location
Banyan Counseling Center, Inc.
2820 School Street
Alexandria, VA 22303

Public Transportation: Huntington Metro—Leave station on North Kings Highway side and make a Left onto North Kings Highway. Walk two long blocks past a school on the right. Make first Right after the school (church is on the corner) onto School Street. Walk just over one block. House is third house on the right on the second block. Three cement swans are in the yard and the driveway is a double-wide driveway. Entrance to Banyan Counseling Center is at the top of the driveway.

From the Beltway: Take Route 1-South to North Kings Highway (1.3 miles) Make a Right onto North Kings Highway and immediately get into your left lane. Make a left at the second light onto School Street. (There is a Presbyterian Church on the corner.) Drive just over 1 block. House is third house on the right on the second block. Three cement swans are in the yard and the driveway is a double-wide driveway. Entrance to Banyan Counseling Center is at the top of the driveway.

Professional Background

M.S.W., 1989

LCSW, Licensed Clinical Social Worker, Virginia

Certified Thought Field Therapist

Certified Hypnotherapist

Languages
English

Specialties/Practice
Thought Field Therapy (TFT)— a new treatment which incorporates the philosophy of acupuncture (without needles) and alleviates anxiety and depression. Click here for: Thought Energy Synchronization and Doctor Gregory Nicosia for a description of TFT.

Transgender/Transsexual issues: both male-to-female and female-to-male

Hypnotherapy for smoking cessation, weight reduction, relaxation or as a tool to learn more about life patterns and how they affect one’s life.

Chronic illness

Death/dying/bereavement

Coming out/sexual orientation/gender identity

Anxiety/depression/self-esteem

Payment Policies and Insurance Accepted
Payment is due at the time of your session; however, if you are submitting paperwork to your insurance for reimbursement, a receipt will be provided at the end of your session for that purpose.

Background
I am a Licensed Clinical Social Worker with an office conveniently located in my home in Alexandria, Virginia. My work excites me each day as I observe the emotional growth of my clients. It is such a wonderful experience being involved as a co-catalyst for change in the human spirit. I use the term "co-catalyst" because I know it is not just me doing the work. My clients are involved in their therapy experience and I am just an unbiased assistant to the work they want to accomplish. Hopefully, my expertise and my own life learning helps them meet their therapy goals.

I work with individuals, couples and groups with very diverse needs and issues and my style of work is "eclectic." You could define my work quite simply. After all, I do work with depression and anxiety which are common issues in our world today, but I also work in some interesting, more focused areas.

Probably the most diverse area of my work is with the transgender community. I have gained expertise in that area not through book learning while in graduate school years ago, but through my own research about the subject. I first learned about how to work with this issue while talking with therapists who have worked in this area for years. Then after I started my own practice, I attended local monthly support groups to learn more about the struggles of those who are facing a potential change in their gender, i.e., family acceptance, societal and work pressures, and, of course, self-acceptance. As I became known as an accepting therapist who believed in the concept that brain sex is sometimes different than body sex, my practice grew. Since starting my private practice in 1995, I have seen over 400 clients who describe having transgender issues.

My background is quite diverse. I changed careers in my mid-30's to become a social worker and then a private-practice therapist. It really is true that for some of us, it takes a while to really understand who we are and how we professionally fit into society. When I returned to school to obtain my social work credentials, I felt I had found myself. Of course, I did the legwork before starting my practice. I directed a psychosocial program for mentally ill adults and I worked as the first social worker for the Visiting Nurse Association's first hospice program in the Metropolitan DC area. Both of those jobs gave me important training in the diversity of how we cope with the pressures of living and dying in our society.

Even though I was not formally trained until mid-life to be a social worker, my involvement as a volunteer in various programs in my early years showed me I could do it! I have volunteered as a tutor for inner-city children, planned and organized weekend retreats focusing on personal growth, and led peer support groups for the MS Society. In recent years, I have been a volunteer therapist for the Whitman-Walker Clinic and the Mautner Project for Lesbians with Cancer. I find that being involved in the community enriches my life and teaches me more each day. I also have presented at two national conventions and for many local organizations about my work in the transgender community.

Since starting my private practice, I have learned to integrate "new power therapies" in my work with clients. In 1996, I was trained in hypnotherapy by Diane Zimberoff, a nationally recognized hypnotherapist. And in 1998, I spent almost a year learning skills in Thought Field Therapy, a technique which uses the theories of acupuncture (no needles) with mental health philosophies to give clients some coping mechanisms to use when not in therapy. Both of these modalities, when combined with "talk therapy" can be very powerful tools to help clients learn new coping skills and not let their problems control them.

What I love about my work is the diversity of the issues which are brought to me. I am committed to helping my clients be the best they can be. It is true that life can be quite difficult at times. It is also true that our past lessons sometimes control us. But I am confident that my interactive style can help you learn your life lessons and move on from the point where you have felt "stuck."

The Lesbian, Gay, Bi and Trans group of therapists is a diverse, welcoming group of professionals and I am proud to be a part of it.

Availability
Openings throughout the week.