My interest in psychology has always been on learning to be an effective psychotherapist with a wide range of people. I felt it was important to have a solid grounding in psychodynamic training because I believe it offers an in-depth, comprehensive understanding of how the mind operates and how it can be healed when it is out of balance.
I completed my Doctorate in Clinical Psychology at the University of Denver in 1984, with a focus on traditional psychological assessment and psychodynamic psychotherapy. To deepen my understanding of self-psychology, which is a specific type of psychodynamic psychology, I later participated for two years in a post-doctoral study group at the Chicago Institute for Psychoanalysis. This group was led by Ernest Wolf, M.D., and the late Marion Tolpin, M.D.; two of the foremost experts in self-psychology.