About

I am a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist with a Doctoral degree in Psychology and the founder of HollandHeart. My specialty is Medical Family Therapy; I help people who are struggling with illness and stressful emotions that affect their health.

My interest in emotions grew out of my own healing from an accidental electrocution and resulting cardiac arrest. The electrocution, which happened in childhood, affected my memory and my ability to understand the meaning of certain words, therefore, I learned to rely on cues from my emotions.

During my eight years with BellSouth, I co-created A Grand Affair, a program for people over 55 that is still in operation, served on the board of directors for Palmetto Richland Health’s then, Center for Cancer Treatment and Research and published ChildSource, a local parenting newspaper.

I earned a masters degree from the University of South Carolina and returned to Palmetto Richland for my internship. I completed my clinical training in family therapy at Palmetto Baptist and while I was there, I started a medical family therapy program and support group for infertility patients. After meeting licensing requirements, I began a doctoral program in Clinical Psychology at the Georgia School of Professional Psychology. Two years later, I transferred to Capella University: Minnesota and completed my doctoral training in Family Psychology.

I have specialized training in:

• Medical Family Therapy - University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, New York.
• Strategic Therapy - Family Therapy Institute, Washington, DC.
• Cognitive Therapy - Beck Institute for Cognitive Therapy, Pennsylvania.

I’m also the author of Jake’s Journey and several articles about emotions in cardiology and infertility and currently volunteer with South Carolina Region 3 – Medical Reserve Corps.

Two things I firmly believe:

• Know who you are in this world: your emotions, thoughts, your strengths and weaknesses
• Manage your weakness but invest in your unique strengths