I’m a highly dedicated mental health professional with two doctoral degrees—a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Nursing and a Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)—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). For over a decade, I’ve cared for adults facing every challenge imaginable, but with significant experience working with people who have complex challenges and difficulties, including but not limited to severe childhood trauma, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), personality disorders (borderline, narcissistic, schizoid, schizotypal), mood disorders (depression, bipolar spectrum), anxiety disorders (generalized, panic disorder), obsessive compulsive disorders, psychosomatic conditions, complex medical issues, grief, intermittent psychotic states, and addiction. Since 2022, I’ve owned and operated 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, NV, NY, OR, and WA.

My journey began in Arizona, where, by the age of seventeen, I had volunteered over 1,000 hours at a local hospital. 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. It was while working with psychiatrically hospitalized Veterans that I discovered my passion for psychiatric mental health nursing and recognized my gifts in this area. I later worked as a board-certified psychiatric-mental health registered nurse and supervisor in hospitals serving adults, active duty military members, Veterans, and children. During this time, I came to understand that therapeutic relationships are the cornerstone of change, and I became fascinated by psychoanalysis as I sought to understand the deeper meanings behind my patients’ struggles and became devoted to discovering how to make long-lasting relief and change possible for them. 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. Currently, I am currently co-authoring a book about the integration of psychoanalysis and nursing and have authored sixteen peer-reviewed publications, presented at over twenty-five national conferences, taught in undergraduate and graduate mental health nursing programs, and have received numerous awards for my scholarship, including over $175,000 in merit scholarships.

Outside of academia, my psychoanalytic training spanning the past seven years is extensive and immersive, including my own psychoanalysis with a seasoned psychoanalyst (with a legacy from Selma Fraiberg, Richard Sterba, and Sigmond Freud) in addition to varied formal training programs, including 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), New York Contemporary Freudian Society (two-year psychoanalytic psychotherapy program), International Psychotherapy Institute (one-year infant observation program), Columbia University Center for Psychoanalytic Training & Research (two-year transference-focused psychotherapy program), and the Institute of Psychoanalysis (post-foundations program) within the British Psychoanalytical Society. Beyond formal training, I participate in weekly immersion within the psychoanalytic community, including weekly reading groups, peer consultation groups, and individual supervision. In summary, patients greatly benefit from my ongoing dedication to psychoanalysis and commitment to professional development.

Since 2023, I have founded and facilitated the Finley Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Fellowship, where I teach an introductory, year-long psychoanalytic course to other mental health professionals interested in this therapeutic approach and method. While I serve on numerous psychoanalytic committees and professional organizations, my proudest achievement is founding and chairing the Advanced Practice in Nursing Committee at the American Psychoanalytic Association (APsA). 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 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 lead a contemplative, nature-centered life on a solar-powered homestead in the woods, where I care for animals, gardens, and an orchard. In this peaceful place, I find joy in community, cooking, baking, reading literature and poetry, writing, foraging for wild food, practicing yoga and dancing, listening to music, admiring visual art, watching independent art films, and serving as a community board member. It is not surprising that my lifestyle enables me to provide patients with a calm, cultured, sensitive, grounded, deep, rich, creative, and holistic perspective on life.