I was born on the east coast and attended Barnard College/Columbia University on a scholarship. I majored in literature and psychology, which reflected my lifelong interest in the intersections between culture and the psyche. I moved across the country to the University of Southern California to attend graduate school, where I became very interested in issues relating to health, relationships, and sexuality. I earned my masters degree in 1993 and my doctorate in 1996 from USC, and I completed both a clinical postdoc at UCLA Medical Center and a research postdoc at the UCLA School of Public Health. I began publishing papers on illness and psychology while still in graduate school, and eventually I won grant support for my work from the American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute (NCI). Some of that early work forms the basis for patient education materials still distributed by the NCI.

I transitioned from academia to full-time private practice in 2003. About half of my work is with individual clients with a variety of issues, and half is sex therapy and/or couples therapy. Much of my clinical work has touched on issues involving relationships and sexuality. I've undergone specialized clinical training in sex therapy, and I teach graduate students and lay audiences about various sexuality topics. I also continue to write and present at conferences.