I studied Fine Arts as an undergraduate, and also received my medical training at New York University. I completed my psychiatry training at the University of California, San Francisco, with an additional year as chief resident, which included specialized training in perinatal psychiatry at San Francisco General Hospital.
To continue my work in perinatal psychiatry, I served as the consultant to Marin Maternity Services for 18 years, working with pregnant and postpartum women and their clinicians. I have also worked in specialized primary care and mental health clinics for women veterans, particularly focused on sexual trauma, furthering my interest in women’s mental health. I gained expertise in the hormonal issues women deal with while an attending at the Women’s Mood and Hormone clinic at UCSF.
In order to deepen my psychotherapeutic skills, I trained as a psychoanalyst at the San Francisco Center for Psychoanalysis, where I am a faculty member. I have taught courses on psychoanalytic thinking and clinical work. As an Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at UCSF, I supervise psychiatric residents. I have lectured and taught extensively in the area of women’s mental health, and perinatal issues. I teach a course to both psychiatric residents and psychology interns, as well as supervise cases in the California Pacific Medical Center’s Perinatal Health and Wellness Program.
I have a lively interest in the arts, including film, music and the visual arts, and have given talks on opera and psychoanalysis. I have also published and taught on psychoanalytic ideas and film.