Dr. Shay professional biography:
Thank you for your interest in my work. I am happy to introduce myself to you. I have 30+ years of experience supporting clients, and I love what I do.
My journey started with a back surgery as a young college student at SUNY Binghamton (in New York), when I discovered that the medical system provides very little support to patients once they are discharged from the hospital and going through the long recovery process. This experience taught me how discouraging it can be to be taken out of the mainstream of your life and unable to do the simple things that most people take for granted. It taught me to pay attention to the way I was feeling, and to do something about it.
My personal research into how to recover in mind and body led to some BIG lifestyle changes, and eventually to getting my doctoral degree in psychology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, one of the first training programs to specialize in the growing field of health psychology. I had the opportunity to work in a variety of medical clinics, with leaders in the field of behavioral health interventions for improving physical health and recovery. I published research examining the effects of psychological stress on health in diabetes, and on the benefits of physical exercise for mental health and wellness in aging. I thought about being a professor in an academic medical setting. However, I found that I most enjoyed my work helping people, and my clients encouraged me to keep doing just that. I continued my clinical training in this field through a post-doctoral fellowship in Clinical Health Psychology at The Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Ohio. In 2019, I achieved the highest credential in this field by becoming a board-certified Clinical Health Psychologist through the American Board of Professional Psychology, a highly regarded and difficult to obtain honor.
Like everything else in life, I found that with psychotherapy, there’s a difference between “knowing” and “doing”. I had excellent training in evidence-based tools for improving health and behavior. However, I knew that my skills as a therapist needed nurturing, and I was interested in learning more about emotional and relationship issues. True skill in psychotherapy is best learned from close mentoring and intensive training, which I was lucky to receive through in-depth psychotherapy experience during my internship at Northwestern University in Chicago, where I eventually also served as a clinical supervisor and staff psychologist for two years.
During my long career, I have worked with other healthcare providers as a team in medical and veteran care clinics, including primary care, diabetes care, weight loss and pain management treatment centers. Often the people I have helped in these clinics would never have thought to go to a psychologist for their problems, yet have benefited from my guidance and support. I have worked with people of many backgrounds, from many areas of the world. I am always learning and often my clients teach me as much as I learn from experience or reading. I also believe in contributing to my community, and volunteered my time in various ways, including teaching and supervising students, and coaching other medical professionals in communication skills. I have now decided to devote myself to working directly with clients, and if you are reading this, perhaps I will have a chance to meet and work with you.
