More on Dr. Lisa

The story.

I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for therapy. At least, that’s what my mother tells me. She asserts she never would have married my father if it hadn’t been for her own experience in counseling. In her twenties, my mother took the brave step of self-exploration through psychoanalysis. 

Watching her better understand where her pain came from and the choices she made throughout my childhood showed me the potential of learning and growing as people. I was and continue to be in awe of my mother’s continued courage to grow. This is where my “why” for my choosing to become a psychologist begins. 

But I continue because of the feeling I get when I hear another person say “Yes! exactly!” with a sense of relief that they're finally being understood. I could sit down with you for hours and try to figure out the whys and the hows in your life. I absolutely LOVE those moments, when together, we see that something you thought was so terrible, really has strength, purpose, or compassion underneath. When it comes to my special passion for couples’ support, helping two people reconnect or find resolution fills me up like nothing else. 

I grew up in the Northeast with a privileged upbringing. I’ve been there; living in a world where success and achievement determined happiness. I played along, received a good education, and did everything I was supposed to do, only to walk away without that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. 

This is an important part of my story, because it helps me show up as an authentic and non-judgmental guide to unpack the unhelpful pressures, expectations, and fears that tell us we’re broken. When I tune in and try to match my strengths with what truly brings me energy and joy, it's sitting together, in a safe place, working really hard as a team to figure out how to make this journey through life a meaningful one.

My training.

As a senior in high school, I took my first-ever psychology course. It wasn’t long before the fascination led me to Emory University to pursue my bachelor’s degree in psychology. In search of more, I joined the Peer Counseling program, hoping to gain the ability to use just the right words to help someone. But instead of learning how to speak healing words, I learned something much more important; the art of listening.

Through this experience, I saw how impactful it can be to make someone feel seen and understood. It was then that I knew I wanted to be a therapist. It was then that I found something I was not only good at, but something I also truly enjoyed.

I immersed myself in more opportunities to work directly with people at the Graduate School of Professional Psychology at the University of Denver, where I earned my Doctor of Psychology (Psy.D.). I got experience with a school counselor in a high school, at Kaiser Permanente, an HMO, at two different college counseling centers, and in a community clinic attached to the school. During my second year in graduate school, I found my true passion through a year-long intensive in systems theory. My heart lit up learning about how people disconnect from each other and how to break down barriers and help people resolve conflict and feel true intimacy. I spent another year focusing on couples treatment with a narrative therapy focus.

After earning my degree, I spent a year working at a private practice in Southwest Florida with everyone from young children to seniors. I saw individuals, couples, and families, and did quite a bit of ADHD, learning disability, and personality testing. 

My license as a psychologist in the state of Florida brought me to three different private practice settings where I developed a niche with couples counseling and relational difficulties. I worked with adults and couples who were working through various challenges such as lack of connection, high conflict, infidelity, premarital counseling, separation/divorce counseling, depressed mood, generalized anxiety, and grief.  Through part of my training and networking, I learned about Collaborative Divorce, a newer method of uncoupling that utilizes mental health professionals and mediators so as to reduce conflict. I obtained my certification in the state of Florida as a Certified Mediator which furthered my understanding of divorce, problem-solving, and solution-focused separation. 

After just under ten years of practice, my family relocated to Houston. Shortly thereafter, I had my third child and I knew in my heart it was time to pause my career. I tuned into my gut and made the choice to put my full energy into my family and making a new community for us in Texas. This year, I tuned in once again as I felt the calling to return to the practice I love so much, this time with Modern Therapy. I knew this was my safe place, my calling, and my time. 

I can’t wait to see what it leads to as we get to know one another.

My commitment.

When you leave a session with me, I want you to be able to breathe more deeply, feel more understood, less alone, and most importantly, with a little nugget of hope. There is a light at the end of every tunnel and so, in the therapy room, I’m your broker of hope. I see the strength in your struggle, the passion and desire for self-care behind your anger, the desire for intimacy underneath your disconnect, and the beauty that is you behind that self-doubt. And because I can see it, I welcome those tricky thoughts and behaviors that prevent you from feeling truly loved and worthy.