I was born and raised in Maryland, surrounded by a large Sicilian-American family. My parents moved us to Florida when I was twelve. While my career has demanded that I live in a number of different states, Florida is home.

Working as a mental health professional is my second career. I spent seventeen years at Delta Air Lines. During those Delta years, I went back to college where I earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and a master’s degree in psychology. I left Delta to start working as a mental health professional and entered the University of Florida, where I earned a doctorate in marriage and family counseling. During my doctorate studies, my private practice gravitated toward forensic work, such as custody evaluations, divorce mediation, and psychoeducational group work.

I worked at several community-based mental health agencies before yet again changing the focus of my career by becoming a university professor, teaching graduate level courses and providing those graduate students with clinical supervision. After thirteen years in academia, I retired from Troy University to work with service members and their families as a Military & Family Life Counselor (MFLC). I provided counseling services in a number of military communities, including those at Lakenheath Royal Air Force base in England, Kaiserslautern in Germany, MacDill AFB in Florida, and Incirlik in Turkey. I worked both as an imbedded Adult-based MFLC and a School-Based MFLC.

Throughout most of these adventures, particularly my time as a university professor, I kept a small private practice. Today, I continue to enjoy this private practice. While I consider myself a generalist, I specialize in both couples work and post-divorce family counseling. I supplement my income as a subject matter expert, reviewing the Veterans Health Administration’s clinical mental health care.

If you are interested in all the details of my professional career, I encourage you to take a look at my full Curriculum Vita.