People often ask me, "How could you do this work?"  I answer, "I was meant to do it."  By that, I mean that working with children and families undergoing family change is work that takes full advantage of my strengths.  I am strong enough and level-headed enough to weather the demands of the work over the 29 years that I have practiced in the area of family law.

I have worked with compassion and understanding to help parents resolve custody and parenting time disputes.  I consistently strive to maintain my neutrality in order to help parents work cooperatively to meet their children's best interest despite their personal grief and anger.  

I have been a licensed psychologist since 1993.  I have been in private practice since May 2011.  I worked  13 years at Hennepin County Family Court Services as an evaluator and mediator and  three years as their  Child Psychologist where I honed my skills in assessing parent/child relationships and focused in on how parental conflict affects children.

I conducted hundreds of custody and parenting time evaluations, Early Neutral Evaluations, mediations.  In recent years, I have been doing Brief Focused Assessment, parent/child relationship assessments, parent coaching, reunification therapy, Parent Consulting work and child psychological assessments.  I have experience doing child inclusive mediation, both as the Child Specialist and the Mediator.

The vast majority of adults and children I work with find me to be accessible, calm, knowledgeable and trustworthy.   I am known by other professionals as consistently able to understand highly complex issues.  I appreciate each person's truth within the context of the family dynamics.

I have learned from experience that first impressions, while compelling, are often misleading.  I take the time to be thorough and careful before reaching conclusions.  

Areas of expertise and advanced training:

  • Assessing parent/child relationships
  • Chemical dependency
  • Dynamics of power and control in relationships
  • Domestic abuse 
  • Adult mental health issues
  • Children's mental health and other special needs
  • Assessment of parental alienation as distinguished from justified or unjustified estrangement.
  • Child development
  • Attachment issues and parenting concerns

Credentials:

  • Licensed by the Minnesota Board of Psychology in 1993.
  • On the Supreme Court Rule 114 Board roster for Alternative Dispute Resolution professionals. 

Education

  • Ph.D. Candidate in Psychology from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.  My thesis was on stress and maternal behavior.
  • Master's in Psychology from the University of Michigan
  • Bachelor's Degree in Psychology from Brooklyn College, State University of New York

Professional Memberships:

  • Association of Family and Conciliation Courts
  • Minnesota Cooperative Law Network
  • American/Minnesota Psychological Associations




About Me
Phone Numbers:

Office: 612-235-6902
Cell: 612-759-1946
Fax: 763-210-6901

Office Address:

43 Main St. S.E. 
Suite 228
Minneapolis MN 55414