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Who is she?
She says all the letters after names are really there to make professionals feel important. So personally, she likes to leave them off. She tells people, We can all be on a first name basis.
A complete bio would include more than where she got her degrees (University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana/Chicago BS, MSW, & PhD). You’d hear things like:
As a kid Dr. Freedman was that person other kids talked to at school about their problems, and that followed to the residence hall at college. She’s still the one that perfect strangers start telling their problems to on the bus. When the 6th grade teacher asked about future aspirations she said: psychiatry.
She jokes (below) about not having emotional boundaries, but personal boundaries are most definitely there, and those are made of steel.
Honest, a straight talker, but gentle.
Assessments take about three visits, which helps everyone to understand what’s really needed, whether or not what is needed might be a weekly visit, or perhaps more often or less often. Bringing others into the “room” is valuable.
The assessment will also indicate whether or not this is the right doctor for you.
What's unique about this therapist? Maybe being from a medical family, and having taught grad school, there’s much to pass on. Being a chameleon works, having poor boundaries when it comes to feeling another’s experience— emotional empathy, oddly enough, a plus in the field (that's kind of a joke, but not entirely).
She likes to say she’s the mother you never had, the sister, the girlfriend, daughter, mentor. It can be hard.