How did you become interested in this line of work? (tell us a little bit about your background)

A little bit about my journey to HERE. Before earning a Master’s Degree in Clinical Psychotherapy from New York University and adopting a daily meditation/green juice/exercise lifestyle, I worked as a talent agent for actors and supermodels. I was your typical Type A overachiever with zero balance and no internal peace. My ambition drove me to exhaustion, depression and cancer (but that’s a story for a different day.)

When it became evident that the things (money, power, sexy job) that I thought would make me happy didn’t, I could no longer ignore the voice in my heart asking, “Isn’t there something more meaningful you could be doing with your life than making supermodels richer?”

Happily, there was.

I met and married my wonderful hubs, Vic, around the same time that I started my therapy practice over two decades ago. What I learned in the trenches with my clients and in my own life fueled my obsession with decoding the art of establishing and maintaining healthy personal and professional boundaries.

As my practice grew I saw an array of different clients, from the well-heeled millennial magazine editor, to the 40-something suburban mom, to the divorced CEO, each with a different presenting problem: cheating spouse, an overbearing boss, dysfunctional family dynamics and so on. And I discovered an undeniable commonality, at the heart of every single client’s distress was the same problem: a lack of healthy boundaries. Fortunately, learning how to establish and enforce good boundaries is exactly what alleviates this pain. And that step-by-step process I built over the last 24 years, became my first book, Boundary Boss-The Essential Guide to Talk True, Be Seen, and (Finally) Live Free.

Please share a wellness tip or word of advice that relates to the workshop you will be presenting.

If you are confused about it or when a boundary has been violated, stop and tap into the way your body feels. If a boundary has been crossed or a need unmet, you will have a physical response or reaction such as a constriction in your chest or a tightness in your throat. The more you learn to pay attention to the wisdom of your body the easier it becomes to know which boundary conversations to have with whom.

What or who inspires you? (This could be anything from your mentor to your favorite quote)

The work of Dr. Harriet Lerner.

“Defensiveness is the arch-enemy of listening.” Dr. Harriet Lerner

What personal or professional accomplishments are you most proud of?

I am most proud of my healthy blended family. I married my husband, Victor, a widower with 3 young teenage sons at the time, almost 24 years ago. We have 7 grand-babies now and I am forever grateful for my “found family.”