About Me

I first moved to Oregon in 1989 with my ex-husband, Steve Edelson, so I could complete my pre-doctoral internship in child clinical psychology at the Morrison Center in Portland. I spent a year working with children and families both through the Morrison Center and through the Oregon State Hospital’s (OSH) Child/Adolescent Unit. After that year, I worked part-time at OSH and part-time at Willamette University as a sabbatical replacement. I was fortunate that the Psychology Department had a position opening for a child clinical psychologist. I applied for the position and got the job(!); and in 1992, after completing my Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, I joined the faculty as a tenure-track Assistant Professor. I am now a Professor of Psychology.

Since we moved to Oregon, Steve and I have had two daughters, Janae who was born in the middle of my first full-time semester at Willamette (seen in the banner with the beagle laying on her), and Micaela (see sitting on the couch). Our family has also included many non-human animals throughout the years including four beagles: Buffi, Jasmin, Hoover, and Kelev; three hamsters: Digit, Gidget, and Lydia; two hermit crabs: Crabby and Crabert; two frogs (whose brief tenure in our family means their names escape me!) and an assortment of Beta fish. I’m sure our family will continue to expand over the years (but only with regard to pets!). Our family moved from the Portland area to Salem in 1996. Steve and I divorced (amicably) in 2007, and he now resides in San Diego where he is the director of the Autism Research Institute, taking over that position following the death of ARI’s founder and director, Dr. Bernard Rimland.

In addition to working at Willamette, I “moonlight” as a child interviewer at Liberty House, a child abuse assessment center here in Salem (see the link to Liberty House in the Psychology Related Links section). I also play the guitar and teach songs to the children in Temple Beth Sholom’s (TBS) Religious School one Sunday a month. In years past, I also chaired the Education Committee for TBS and was on the TBS Board of Trustees. I am active on campus in a variety of venues including my past service on the President’s Residential Commons Steering Committee, the Faculty-Workload Task Force, the Faculty Council, and in my ongoing role as a Sexual Assault Advisor and new role as Chair of the Institutional Review Board. My hobbies include playing the guitar and saxophone (the latter only occasionally), singing, listening to music, watching football on TV (especially the Green Bay Packers who are my favorite team), playing tennis and golf, and reading and/or watching science fiction/fantasy (when I have the time).

I would define myself as a feminist (although I prefer the word humanist but that seems to have been taken by those pesky phenomenological psychologists!). I enjoy raising two daughters, and I hope that my values and beliefs regarding women’s rights and opportunities will be embraced by them as they grow.

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions about the work I do, the activities in which I’m involved, or just to chat. My contact information can be found on the home page of my website.