Becoming a therapist was not my original plan. I started my career in finance, and it wasn’t until I began volunteering as a crisis counselor at the Suicide Prevention Hotline that I discovered a real passion for talking to people who were looking for help. I received my master’s degree from the University of Southern California and was incredibly lucky finding mentors early in my therapy career. I learned cognitive therapy from the CBT pioneer, David Burns, and under the supervision of Alan Gordon at the Pain Psychology Center I overcame chronic shoulder and pelvic pain that I’d been dealing with for many years. Whether it’s with friends, strangers, researchers, therapists, physicians, or clients, I often find myself talking about anxiety, depression, pain and all the ways we’ve learned to overcome these issues. I find a lot joy in my work.