ABOUT ME

I am committed to living on purpose.

 

What that means is that I want to live a life where I choose how I think and act versus stay stuck in habits and automatic reactions. I want to be free of the shackles of “shoulds” and other ways of thinking and being that have been programmed in me through my upbringing, past experiences, and what is prescribed by the culture I happen to be in. When I am able to live on purpose, I am more focused and better at whatever I’m doing. I have more access to peace and joy. I am better able to weather storms. In fact, I don't just "weather" adversity anymore, but I have found that I can choose instead to harness it. Take advantage of it. Use the opportunity to build even stronger choosing muscles.

And I am passionate about helping others who want these things for themselves too.

Which largely explains my day jobs... I am Professor and Program Director of the PhD Program in Clinical Psychology at Alliant International University. I also provide trauma focused assessment and therapy as a Board Certified and Licensed Clinical Psychologist in private practice. Before that I was Associate Professor in the University of California San Diego Department of Psychiatry and served as Program Director of the Military Sexual Trauma & Interpersonal Trauma Clinic and the San Diego Advanced Fellowship in Women's Health.

I am an active researcher focused on the identification of individual, socio-cultural and contextual predictors of post-traumatic distress and treatment outcomes, with the goal of developing and testing interventions to address these factors to improve outcomes. I am especially interested in trauma related guilt and shame, which is so pervasive and caustic.

I am engaged in professional and public education and social advocacy. I am on the Editorial Board of the American Psychological Association’s Trauma Division (Division 56) journal, Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice and Policy. I served as President of the Trauma Division in 2019-21. I write, and give talks, trainings, and professional consultations locally, nationally, and abroad.

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What else makes me tick? Connecting with others, traveling, dancing, meditating, gardening, hiking, running, walking, laughing, playing, and doing anything that flexes my choosing muscles in spite of my fears or doubts.