This is the story about the Evans, a family of four, two parents, and their two children forging a middle-class life in central Florida. Jack is a professor at the university, and Natalie is a homemaker. This is also a story about the demons haunting us throughout our lives. As Natalie explained it to Jack when they were first dating, “I was raised by parents who should’ve divorced, but didn’t.” As a girl, Natalie stumbles upon her parents’ secret and plays her role in their lie. “Men can’t be trusted.” This is what Natalie takes away from these early years, so she places her faith in the beauty found in art. That’s until Natalie meets Jack during her final year of college. Jack needs her. She believes needing to be needed by her husband and her son will keep the demons she’s buried to stay buried. However, life has different plans for Natalie after she learns her second child—Joy—has Down’s syndrome.

 

POSITIONS

  Professor, St. Petersburg College | St. Petersburg, Florida | 1998 - Present 

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  Adjunct Faculty, Argosy University | Sarasota, Florida | 2004-2011

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EDUCATION

  Ed.D., Counseling Psychology | Argosy University | 1998

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  M.A., Sociology | The University of South Florida | 1994

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  B.S., Sociology | Florida Southern College | 1992

 

WRITING SELECTION

Fiction:

    (2020). Natalie’s Joy: A novel. Open Knowledge Books.

    

    (2014). Shrink wrapped: Stories from a psychologist’s unconscious. Moonshine Cove Publishing.

   

    (2013). Unreasonable sanity. Moonshine Cove Publishing.

 

Nonfiction:

     (2021). Bad moon rising: The sociology of emerging social problems. Open Knowledge Books.

 

     (2008). Psychology in the first person: Classical & contemporary readings in psychology. Kendall Hunt.

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LICENSURE

  Florida | Licensed Mental Health Counselor,  # MH5966

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  Idaho | Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor,  # LCPC9579

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  New Mexico | Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor, # CCMH0218891

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  Pennsylvania | Licensed Professional Counselor, #PC015929

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PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIP

  American Academy of Clinical Psychiatrists