Where previously I was obsessed with my last show, what producer was in the audience, and my hair, I began to see there was something more for me. The healer in me woke up, and I returned to school at age 42 to pursue a doctorate in psychology.
Originally from Atlanta, where I trained as an opera singer, I moved to New York City in 1985 to pursue a career as a stand-up comedian. I worked all over the country and abroad, and moved to L.A. in 1994 when I heard that Hollywood needed more blondes…
When you are a comic, you only work about 30 minutes a day. Though it was terribly fun working with the likes of Jerry Seinfeld and Ray Romano, I needed to fill the other 23.5 hours of my day. I began volunteering in the community for Children of the Night, a shelter for sexually abused teenagers in Los Angeles. I had an epiphany. Where previously I was obsessed with my last show, what producer was in the audience, and my hair, I began to see there was something more for me. It woke up the healer in me, prompted me to return to school at age 42 to pursue a doctorate in psychology and to specialize in the prevention and healing of child sexual abuse. I now treat victims as well as abusers, for it is my belief that “The best way to help victims is to help the perpetrators.”
A pre-licensed psychologist and clinical therapeutic hypnotist, I am now in private practice in Los Angeles, co-lead group therapy sessions for sex offenders, and am also a busy public speaker for Children of the Night, the Rape and Incest National Network, and Planned Parenthood. I have been quoted extensively in Cosmopolitan, Redbook, Women’s World, and others, and appear on numerous radio and TV shows, including CNBC, The Rachel Maddow Show, The Greg Behrendt Show, Mitch Albom’s show, and more.
I wrote a nonfiction book to inspire others to reinvent themselves: YOU-TURN: CHANGING DIRECTION IN MIDLIFE (Amazon.com), a collection of over 40 stories of people over 40 who made amazing transitions in their personal and/or professional lives. If we can do it, so can you!
