A certain degree of neurosis is of inestimable value as a drive, especially to a psychologist.
– Sigmund Freud

We can make our minds so like still water that beings gather about us, that they may see, it may be, their own images, and so live for a moment with a clearer, perhaps even with a fiercer life because of our quiet.
– W.B. Yeats, Still Water

Like anyone else, I suffer and make mistakes. I sometimes notice myself locked in a narrow perspective, feeling apart from the world. I have mostly been extremely fortunate in my life, but sometimes misfortunes have befallen me. Through it all, I have aspired to fully experience my pains and see them as catalysts for growth. First-hand experience has taught me that the right kind of engagement with suffering, which is an unavoidable condition of being alive, can be a gateway to flourishing, joy, fulfillment, and even a sense of awe.

I was drawn to the prospect of working in this field, as a young person, out of an intuition that I would be personally enriched through contact with a broad swath of humanity; so that I could learn from the people I sought to help and grow in my own capacities for wisdom, compassion, and knowledge. The promise of this career has borne true and being a psychologist has proven to be a labor of love. Throughout my training and professional career, I have had the privilege to work with patients from almost all corners of the world and from varied walks of life. My life is better off for having worked with individuals of all ages, genders, sexual orientations, ethnic and racial backgrounds, and philosophical, spiritual, and religious persuasions.