I’m a highly dedicated psychoanalytic psychotherapist with two doctoral degrees- a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD; research doctorate) in Nursing and a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP; clinical doctorate)- who is independently licensed with the following certifications: Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner-Board Certified (PMHNP-BC), Certified Addictions Registered Nurse-Advanced Practice (CARN-AP), and Advanced Practice Holistic Nurse-Board Certified (APHN-BC). As a Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurse Practitioner, I was trained and am licensed to provide psychotherapy in the United States. For the past decade, I’ve treated adults facing every psychic challenge imaginable. Since 2022, I have maintained a solo private practice in Canandaigua, New York, providing outpatient psychoanalytic psychotherapy to individuals, couples, families, and groups ages 18+ both in person and virtually across the following states I’m licensed in: AK, AZ, CA, FL, MA, MI, & NY. If you are located in a state I am not licensed in and want to start treatment, please get in touch with me to discuss the process of getting licensed in your state of residence.

For background, my health care journey began in Arizona, where I volunteered over 1,000 hours at a local hospital by the age of seventeen and was in awe of how nurses changed lives. Inspired by the power of healing nurse-patient relationships, I went on to earn a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) with a minor in psychology at the University of Arizona in 2015. While working with psychiatrically hospitalized Veterans, I discovered my passion for psychiatric mental health nursing and recognized my gifts in this area. After graduation, I worked as a board-certified psychiatric-mental health registered nurse and supervisor in hospitals serving adults, Veterans, and children. During this time, I realized that therapeutic relationships are the cornerstone of long-lasting change.

While working full-time as a psychiatric mental health nurse, I completed a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) in 2018, followed by my PhD and DNP in 2022, with my dissertation focusing on therapeutic relationships in virtual versus in-person care. Over the years, I have received numerous awards for my scholarship, including more than $175,000 in merit scholarships. Currently, I am co-authoring an academic book about the integration of psychoanalysis and nursing and have authored seventeen peer-reviewed publications, presented at over twenty-five national conferences, taught in undergraduate (Grand Canyon University) and graduate mental health nursing programs (Emory University, Michigan State University), and precepted graduate students from many universities. In Jan. 2026, I started my tenure as an Associate Professor of Clinical Nursing at the University of Rochester School of Nursing, where I teach undergraduate and graduate mental health nursing courses and conduct research.

Early in my nursing career, I became fascinated by psychoanalysis as I sought to discover the deeper meanings behind my patients’ struggles. I became devoted to learning how to help people understand themselves and make foundational change possible. While in graduate school, I started psychoanalytic immersion in 2018, starting with my own personal psychoanalysis with a seasoned psychoanalyst (with a legacy from Selma Fraiberg, Richard Sterba, and Sigmund Freud)- I know psychoanalysis “works” because I’ve lived it. Since 2020, I started formally training with programs at the Psychoanalytic Association of New York (affiliated with New York University; prelude to training program and psychoanalytic fellowship), San Diego Psychoanalytic Center (psychoanalytic fellowship), Institute for the Psychoanalytic Study of Subjectivity (one-year intensive psychoanalytic psychotherapy program), Contemporary Freudian Society (New York; two-year psychoanalytic psychotherapy program), International Psychotherapy Institute (one-year infant observation program), and the Institute of Psychoanalysis (post-foundations program) within the British Psychoanalytical Society. Currently, I am in my final year of the two-year transference-focused psychotherapy program at the Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training & Research. In Fall 2025, I began the integrated adult/child psychoanalytic training at the Contemporary Freudian Society in Washington, D.C., and the couples therapy program at the Westchester Center for the Study of Psychoanalysis and Psychotherapy. Beyond didactic training, I participate in weekly immersion within the psychoanalytic community, including study groups, peer consultation, and individual supervision. Collectively, my patients benefit from my ongoing dedication to psychoanalysis and commitment to professional development.

Beyond the classroom and consultation room, since 2023, I have founded and facilitated the renowned Finley Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Fellowship, a year-long, accredited, introductory psychoanalytic continuing education course for licensed professionals and graduate students. While I am engaged in many professional organizations, I co-chair the Membership Committee and also chair the Advanced Practice in Nursing Committee at the American Psychoanalytic Association (APsA), which I also founded. Locally, I have a mission to share the gifts of psychoanalysis and created and manage the Western New York Psychoanalytic Library to foster access to psychoanalytic literature for this region (see page link above on the menu) and also organize the Western New York Study Group affiliated with APsA (please reach out to me if you’re a licensed professional and would like to be involved in our growing community).

In my personal life, I cultivate a contemplative, nature-centered existence on a solar-powered permaculture homestead nestled in the woods. Here, I care for pets, chickens, bees, gardens, and an orchard, finding meaning in the rhythms of tending and growth. I cherish both solitude and community, and delight in cooking, baking, reading classical literature, philosophy, and poetry, as well as writing, foraging for wild foods, movement practices (walking, dance, Pilates), music, weaving, and visual art. I also contribute to my community through service as a non-profit board member. Beyond home, I travel internationally and immerse myself in culture, the arts, and culinary traditions. These pursuits, both rooted and expansive, inform the perspective I bring to my patients: calm, grounded, and holistic, collectively attuned to the richness of being alive in this unprecedented moment in human history.

Now that you’ve read this far, you may be wondering how all of this works in practice. For example, people often ask whether I sleep. I do, and soundly. Others ask how I have accomplished so much. My answer is simple: I do not waste time, take good care of my health, and I have learned that when psychic conflict is worked through, an enormous amount of energy is released. That freed energy does not vanish. It becomes available for work, creativity, care, and for building a life that is both productive and deeply alive. It is my hope that my patients, too, can become freer and more open in their own lives, so they may live with greater choice, vitality, and fidelity to the lives they wish to lead.