People often ask me what I do for personal stress relief...my answer is always the same: "I find water." I am a Florida native, so water holds a special place in my heart.

Like many young girls, I danced ballet from the time I was five. Intrigued by the language of the dance, I wanted to take French. One of my Bachelor's degrees is in French, the other is in English Literature.

I pursued my first Master's degrees in French and Italian Literature and Art and began teaching humanities courses at the local college when I was 24. From there, I expanded my dancing career, teaching ballet to other athletes and becoming a competitive ballroom dancer myself. Working with a major hospital in Florida, I developed a rehab protocol -over 20 years ago- that began with working with the elderly and expanded to specialize with people who have endured traumatic injuries, especially brain injuries.

Always interested in the spiritual life, and raised Roman Catholic, I studied at Union Theological Seminary in New York City in both systematics and religion and psychology, completing my PhD in Theological Studies, with an interest in trauma studies, from Boston University. 

I teach at Fordham, and I teach at seminaries to Chaplains and ministers who attend to trauma. I have a training in trauma for clinical treatment from the National Institute of the psychotherapies in NYC and a certificate in treating compassion fatigue (for caregivers). I worked at an eating disorder unit at a women’s hospital for three years specializing in group rehab from a 12-step approach. Currently, I consult with organizations that deal with traumatic content to help staff manage the effects of the work on their daily lives. 

My commitment and training make me uniquely capable of attending to what Edith Stein calls "the psycho-physical, spiritual self."