Health Psychology

I have worked with many patients with chronic pain and chronic illness in a variety of health care settings. I co-directed the Living Life Well Pain Rehabilitation Program at the Pain Center at Northern Light Mercy Hospital for over seven years. I also provided integrated behavioral health care to patients living with chronic illness while working in an endocrinology and diabetes clinic. In recent years, much of my focus has shifted to teaching what I have learned through my work. Until recently I was a Clinical Assistant Professor at the Tufts University School of Medicine with a primary role as Behavioral Health Faculty Lead for the MMC Family Medicine Residency Program. In this role, I guided the learning of the next generation of physicians, developing the behavioral health curriculum and providing specific training on topics related to mind-body health. 

Helping the Helpers

My work history has attuned me to the special needs of helpers, especially medical providers and health care workers but also therapists, teachers and educators. I am committed to supporting the frontline helpers serving the health and wellbeing of our communities.

Effective Approaches: CBT

Many clients come to me seeking a specific approach to addressing their difficulties and suffering. I am experienced both using and teaching cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). I gained experience with CBT during my graduate and postgraduate training and as a staff psychologist in the VA Boston system. I trained psychology interns and psychiatry residents to use CBT and other approaches during my time as a Clinical Instructor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

Effective Approaches: ACT

My primary approach to therapy is an innovative form of CBT known as Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). ACT is a scientifically-based therapy that uses mind-body techniques and creative exercises to promote a fundamental shift in how you experience troublesome thoughts, feelings, memories, and bodily discomfort. Using ACT, we can empower you to end unhelpful struggles with your own mind and body and to help you take action in valued areas of life.

History with ACT

Over the past twenty years, I have trained with many of the preeminent ACT trainers and spent countless hours in my own self-study. In turn, I have trained hundreds of other practitioners in this approach, mostly in Maine and New England but also at regional and international ACT conferences. Locally, I am a founding member of the nonprofit Southern Maine ACT (SMACT) Community and remain active in providing training and supervision on ACT.

Chronic Pain

My time working at the Mercy Pain Center transformed my understanding of chronic pain. While the complexity of pain can be daunting, there is a hopeful aspect to it: Since pain is affected by so many factors, there are numerous ways to influence how it is experienced. I learned to help patients not just reduce their pain, but also to live with and respond differently to pain that could not be escaped. Recovery from chronic pain includes reducing the degree to which pain controls one’s life and protecting the most important aspects of life from being impoverished by the struggle with pain. Some of the most effective strategies are not common sense and many patients who suffer from chronic pain do not discover them on their own. 

Complex Illnesses & Health Behaviors

I continue to work with patients to help change difficult health behaviors (smoking, diet, exercise) and to treat common health concerns like insomnia. As a provider of psychology in medical settings, I developed skill treating patients whose conditions elude easy diagnosis and treatment within our conventional medical frameworks.

Specific Concerns

I have extensive experience working with stress and burnout, anxiety and mood disorders, trauma, and substance use.

Treatment of Substance Use & Addiction

My first job in behavioral health, back in 1994 prior to starting my graduate training, was as a substance abuse counselor. During this formative experience, I learned that I had great patience and compassion for clients struggling with substance use and was able to provide help to them without the judgment that is so pervasive both in our culture and our health care system. Helping clients shift their relationships with substances has remained a vital and important part of my work ever since. Before moving to Maine, I worked for the Department of Veterans Affairs Healthcare System in Boston, providing addictions treatment to veterans and their partners and families. While the focus of my work has evolved, I have continued to see clients with substance use and addiction across the varied settings in which I have worked. I hold a Master Addiction Counselor (MAC) certification through NAADAC and I remain a regular presenter in the MMC Addiction Medicine Fellowship lecture series.