Career Distress Response
A framework for the hidden psychological pattern behind high achievers’ quiet unraveling.
“I understand people. I understand careers. And I understand the relationship between the two.”
I have a professional background as a psychologist, career strategist, researcher, and author. For more than 20 years, I've worked with the people others turn to: physicians, attorneys, executives, founders, and entrepreneurs who look successful by every measure yet feel something quietly coming apart underneath.
My work sits where few advisors stand: at the intersection of psychology, career strategy, and the science of how work shapes our lives.
My Approach
Two lenses most advisors don't have.
Psychologists understand what's happening inside a person, but they often don't know how careers, organizations, and markets actually work. Career coaches understand strategy, but they can miss the deeper patterns that keep accomplished people stuck.
I was trained in both.
My professional background as a psychologist helps me understand identity, stress, motivation, and why smart, capable people make decisions that work against them. As an MBA in Innovation and Entrepreneurship and a founder of several organizations, I understand leadership, negotiation, business building, and what it takes to make a bold move.
When we work together, you get both perspectives in the same room: insight into why you feel the way you do, and a clear strategy for what to do next.
“Insight into why you feel the way you do. Strategy for what to do next.”
Credentials
Education and credentials.
Education
- PhD, Clinical Psychology — Fordham University
- MA, Clinical Psychology — Fordham University
- MBA, Innovation & Entrepreneurship — Clemson University
- BA, Psychology — Columbia University
Executive Education
- Harvard Kennedy School, Executive Education
- Center for Creative Leadership, Executive Education
Coaching Certifications
- Certified Executive Coach — Center for Executive Coaching
- Certified Physician Coach — Physician Coaching Institute
- Certified Life Coach — Martha Beck Institute
- Career Coaching Certificate — National Association of Colleges and Employers
Academic & Research
- Former Assistant Research Professor — NYU Grossman School of Medicine
- Principal and co-investigator on research funded by NIH, NIDA, NIA, and NSF
Author
- The Great Unraveling: The Silent Crisis of High Achievers and the Path to Career Harmony (2026)
Background
A career built across psychology, research, and enterprise.
My work draws on more than 20 years of experience across career advisory, clinical practice, academic medicine, and entrepreneurship.
That combination is what I bring to every client: clinical depth, scientific rigor, and an entrepreneur's sense of what's possible.
Original Frameworks
The work I've pioneered.
Over years of working with high achievers, I noticed a pattern that burnout couldn't explain. I named it, studied it, and built a body of work around it.
Career Identity Fusion
An extension of identity fusion research that explains what happens when who you are becomes inseparable from what you do.
Career Harmony Practices
A practical approach built on four pillars: Recognize, Regulate, Reconnect, and Realign.
The Career Distress Inventory
An assessment now in clinical validation research.
The Career Health Assessment
A comprehensive look at how your career is affecting your well-being, identity, and life.
As Founder and CEO of the Career Health Institute, I'm working to establish Career Health as a new field dedicated to how our careers shape our health, identity, relationships, and quality of life.
The Book
The Great Unraveling
The Silent Crisis of High Achievers and the Path to Career Harmony
Why do so many accomplished professionals struggle to enjoy the success they've worked so hard to achieve? In The Great Unraveling, I introduce the frameworks behind my advisory work and a practical path to building success without losing yourself.
Foreword by Pamela Slim · Featured in Forbes