About
Sometimes the path finds you...
I've been a psychotherapist for over twenty years now. I spent almost a decade of that time working at various non-profit agencies, providing counseling services for underprivileged communities. I have a B.S. in Psychology, and I initially went back for a Master's degree (MSW) to become a psychiatric outpatient psychotherapist. After the first year of that Master's program, it became apparent that compared to others in my classes, I was able to talk with clients openly about sexual health and intimacy concerns in a professional manner, with ease. I enrolled in a second Master's degree program (MEd), to specialize my work in clinical human sexuality. After completing two masters degree programs, I went on to obtain a PhD in Clinical Human Sexuality. While working on my doctoral dissertation, I began working for a non-profit that provided services to sexual abuse survivors and their families, regardless of their ability to pay. In time, I was offered the position of program director there and spent the better part of the next decade dedicated to my work there.
This set me on the path that I never imagined I'd be walking today... In addition to state and federal grant funding, we held an invite-only annual fundraising Gala. The annual fundraising event brought together high-profile members of the community as well as other public figures, whose presence over the years would attract even more wealthy donors, as well as media and entertainment personalities. It was part of my job as the program director to meet with the donors and talk with them about how the funds raised were used to support various programs. During friendly conversations with donors, I would answer their questions about my work there and on occasion, they would ask me questions about my educational background. Surprisingly, a large majority of them had never met a sex therapist before and were fascinated both by the work that I did and how far it seemed to deviate from what they imagined the work to be in their heads. Whenever someone would ask for my card, I gave it to them without much thought. But that's how it started...
Unbeknownst to me, one of the gentlemen I'd met at the Gala worked for the FBI. He contacted me and asked if I had availability in my private practice; which I did. After looking over the intake paperwork, he asked to see how and where I would store the chart. At the time, I had my own office (with locked doors) and stored my files in a locked file cabinet, in my office. He requested that I use a coded patient number on all of his forms instead of his name; which I did. When we began treatment, I asked why he'd chosen not to use the therapist provided by the FBI employee assistance program and he explained that after working on a particularly heinous case at work, he began to experience erectile dysfunction when trying to engage in sexual intimacy with his wife. He looked at me and said, "Do you think the EAP shrink has a lot of experience helping men with erection issues?" To be fair, I would have no way of knowing the answer to that question. But I did know that I had quite a bit of experience helping clients in high-powered or high-pressure jobs who struggled with erectile dysfunction, and that's all that mattered.
After that, it was a politician's girlfriend who was struggling to adjust to the lack of intimacy and privacy due to a constant security detail following them around; then an athlete and his wife who's marriage was falling apart from the pressure of their public personas versus their private lives; the CEO of a multinational corporation who felt like his wife didn't understand the demands and pressures of his job and who's wife felt their lives were passing them by as she raised their kids, both wishing he were there; an actress who's breakup was now on display on supermarket tabloid papers and was living in constant fear that her ex was going to leak private photos they'd taken during their relationship; a lawyer who represented a very well known politician who felt trapped in a D/s relationship because she feared if she ended it, she would be outed...
One by one, individuals and couples needing higher levels of privacy have found me. The trust placed with me is sacred and I protect it as such.