Advanced Psychology Services, LLC

Writing Our Own Stories

I was recently sorting through some old High School mementos and found a newspaper clipping. The (very small) article was from a local paper where I grew up in New Jersey, announcing my receipt of a local scholarship. In it, I shared that I planned to be a psychologist.

I never expect adolescents to have a clear career path by the age of 17, and certainly not to stick to it, but somehow I did. And it’s one of the things in life I am so grateful for. Growing up, I saw and lived the challenges associated with mental illness. And all I wanted was to help people with that struggle, especially with living through traumatic events. I imagined myself solving the mysteries of the psyche and helping people heal and make change. I was lucky to learn that doing that as a psychologist was truly the best fit fr me: I discovered a particular love of psychological testing (which is unique to this mental health profession) and have loved exploring different therapy models that have even informed how I live my own life.

I was always particularly committed to the idea of serving the underserved, bringing psychology services to people who may not have easy access to help. Like so many psychologists, the jobs that allowed for this were often administrative in nature: They included training or supervising others, developing programs and evaluating their effectiveness, managing budgets, and navigating complex healthcare systems. While I loved many of these opportunities, I was also starting to be dissatisfied with my story: I was living a high-stress, hectic lifestyle and was increasingly questioning how much I was actually helping people from my administrative role. Wondering if I could have more impact on a smaller scale. Wanting my day to day to look different.

So I reflected (a lot) on who I am and what I wanted, and decided to make a change, as scary as that can be. I resigned from my position, found an office space, and am now writing a new chapter of my story, just as I try to help my clients to do. And that is the goal of Advanced Psychology Services: To help people figure out how to change their lives for the better, to help them live lives they want. Whether through testing or therapy, I want to help you figure out what path is right for you and help you have the tools to make that path a reality.

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