Welcome to my website!
Within these cyber-pages, you will find many posts and references to a variety of issues. Given that I am Type A, an over-achiever, and curious about way too many things, I tend to write about many topics. Hopefully you will enjoy exploring the world with me!
A little bit about me: I am a Social Worker and have been working in the fields of substance abuse and HIV/AIDS for over 10 years throughout the New York area. For the past several years, I focused on providing group and individual mental health therapy to adults living with HIV/AIDS and building my freelance writing practice. Just recently I dove back into the world of Full Time employment and became the Director of Behavioral Health Treatment & Education at Brandywine Counseling & Community Services in Wilmington, DE.
I also present at national conferences and many nonprofit organizations throughout the US. My presentations are as wide-range as my writing. HIV/AIDS, Self-Awareness, Motherhood, Intimate Partner Abuse, and Humor are just a few of my workshop topics. I also enjoy supervising and mentoring Social Work students and lend my services to area Universities.
All of these professional experiences and my strong passion for writing have led me to the development of this website. I feature all of my published pieces within the pages of this site. Currently, my writing is featured on Change.org within their Gay Rights Cause, Health Cause, and Poverty Cause (with my hubby Rich). Recently, I also became a Contributing Blogger for TheBody.com, writing about all things HIV/AIDS.
My husband is equally energetic and together we recently created and launched socialchangeapps.org, a social justice company focused on affecting change through social media. A main medium for affecting change are the Social Change Apps, iPhone applications that provide direct information about social issues.
I am currently a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) in Delaware, a Licensed Social Worker (LSW) in New Jersey (with my LCSW pending in this state), and a Licensed Masters in Social Work (LMSW) in New York. I received my Master of Science in Social Work degree at Columbia University School of Social Work and my Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy with a concentration in Medical Ethics at the University of Delaware.
You may also notice one of the pages is Hope Notes, which is where I will feature one of my pieces with a more hopeful tone. Hope is so valuable and so needed in many areas of our lives. It is a simple concept that tends to be complicated by countless other forces. My goal is to bring a sense of hope to the areas I write about. In my mind, we can find hope if we look. I hope you will be inspired to search for hope in even the most challenging of situations.
Rich and I are also the proud parents of our beautiful daughter, Mia Hope. (We both believe in the beautiful power of hope!) I struggled with Postpartum Depression after Mia was born and I am very candid in my journey through PPD. This has certainly colored my professional work and my writing – as you will clearly see throughout this website. My goal and hope is to raise awareness and reduce stigma. I also enjoy sharing all the joys and challenges of parenting. Through humor, I hope to show that it’s okay to make mistakes and be a silly parent with a silly child.
