She has worked as a Licensed Clinical Social Worker since 2003 and in the mental health field since 1998. She has been intensively trained in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, a treatment for Borderline Personality Disorder, from Behavioral Tech, LLC. She has been Level II trained in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing, a treatment for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, since 2006. She graduated with a Master of Social Worker's degree in the mental health concentration from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana in 2000. She graduated from the University of St. Catherine's in 1008 with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and a Social Welfare minor.