People often ask me “How do you do it all?” They’re surprised by my achievements and some even call me an “overachiever”. If I was a client presenting as an overachiever, a novel therapist might quickly attribute that to perfectionism, societal pressure, fear of failure, imposter syndrome and my past experiences: living in Albania during a time when woman had to fight hard for their rights and being able to have a voice, experiencing the Kosovo war and all the pain and trauma that comes from it. And they might be right- TEXTBOOK RIGHT!

But here is the truth:

I started writing poetry when I was eight years old and published my first novel when I was fourteen. I was a very sensitive child, and was gifted with the ability to feel and communicate feelings in a way that for a lot of readers, or people who knew me was inspiring. As a child I was deeply curious and eager to learn. When my classmates were learning to read, I was writing about life, humans, emotions and reflecting my hopes for the future through my writings. Was I afraid of failure? I never considered the “rejections” I got as failures; and I did get rejected many times even when I submitted my manuscripts for publications. Am I a perfectionist? The opposite. To me the meaning, the intention, the connections, the relationships mean more than being or doing something perfect. As someone who always strives for self-growth and learning, there is no room for perfectionism.

What other people see as “achievements” I see as experiences. Experiences driven by a deep desire to learn, understand and help people to reach their full potential (including myself). My journey as a medical sonographer, as a professor, as a neuroscience graduate, as a researcher and as a therapist; all these different roles and careers have in common the passion, curiosity and enthusiasm to connect and make a positive change in people’s life and the environment around us. These different roles are interconnecting and complete each other, in a way that has helped me to explore and question things I know and I learn with the sole purpose of understanding and meaning-making. Uncertainty and change are the core truth of all these different roles, that have helped me develop high tolerance towards these two things we humans fear a lot. It is true that my upbringing, the Kosovo war, immigrating to the U.S. alone at a young age, and everything else I have gone through has impacted me and my growth. Through my journey, however, I learned that only one knows one’s truth, and although as humans we share a lot of common feelings and experiences, there is uniqueness in each individual and only YOU know your full story and your truth. As a therapist, I bring in my diverse expertise not to tell you what your story is or how it should be; but to maintain an open mind and curiosity to help you discover your own truth, potential and meaning of life. This curiosity allows me to go beyond the textbook approach, and create an authentic relational experience that helps you open up to possibilities, connect with yourself and embrace change and uncertainty as a process of growth and healing.

My expertise only allows me to be able to HOLD this space for you, and if you decide that you are ready for that, reach out to me here: contact

Thank you for reading my story.