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ABOUT DR. TOBIAS
I help people understand themselves and their relationships with greater compassion and clarity.
A JOURNEY BETWEEN THE BODY AND THE MIND
I am a clinical psychologist who cares deeply about helping people understand themselves and their relationships with greater compassion and clarity. I was born and raised in Southern California, lived in several parts of the United States - mostly in the South, where I raised my children - and for the past 30 years, Maryland has been home.
Before becoming a psychologist, I worked as a registered nurse and later as a professor of nursing at Howard University, and I went on to teach as a professor of clinical psychology at Argosy University. My own path — from earning my GED to completing my PhD — has shaped my belief that formal education and research matter, and that they mean the most when they are also "reality (life) tested." I am also an author and speaker, and I bring all of these parts of my journey — clinician, educator, nurse, author, and speaker — into the way I understand and support the people I work with.
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MOTHER, GRANDMOTHER GREAT-GRANDMOTHER
I am also a mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, and one of the great joys of my life is the love I share with my family. At home, the kitchen is the gathering place for family and friends. I am kept company by two miniature schnauzers, Zoë and Missy Kissy, who bring plenty of personality and comfort into my days.
PERSPECTIVE & PHILOSOPHY
My work is grounded in both research and real life. Over the years, I have learned not only through formal education, but also through my own life experience and through the privilege of sitting with clients as they make sense of their stories. I have worked extensively with adults, couples, women, men, and groups, helping people better understand the patterns that shape how they love, cope, connect, and grow.
I believe life itself can be one of our greatest teachers. Growth points are often spiritual If your formulas have failed remember crisis because what we thought we knew about life has not come true. In our work together, I hope to create a space where you feel safe enough to explore your most important experiences with honesty and care, so that over time, you can move toward a life that feels fuller, more conscious, and more deeply your own.
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MOTHER, GRANDMOTHER GREAT-GRANDMOTHER
I am also a mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother, and one of the great joys of my life is the love I share with my family. At home, the kitchen is the gathering place for family and friends. I am kept company by two miniature schnauzers, Zoë and Missy Kissy, who bring plenty of personality and comfort into my days.
PERSPECTIVE & PHILOSOPHY
My work is grounded in both research and real life. Over the years, I have learned not only through formal education but also through my own life experience and through the privilege of sitting with clients as they make sense of their stories. I have worked extensively with adults, couples, women, men, and groups, helping people better understand the patterns that shape how they love, cope, connect, and grow. I believe life itself can be one of our greatest teachers. Growth points are often found in crisis - in the moments when the 'formulas' we believed in no longer hold, and what we thought we knew about life has not come true.
YOU ARE NOT FAILING
If you feel as though your "recipes for life" have failed, you may be standing at an important point of growth. This is often the place where expectations and reality finally meet.
Many people arrive in therapy exhausted from trying harder, over-functioning, rescuing others, or repeating painful relationship patterns they do not fully understand. You may simply be arriving at a deeper level of awareness.
The experiences that bring us into therapy are often connected to our relationships—with ourselves, our partners, our families, our work, our spirituality, and the stories we have carried for years about who we are supposed to be. Therapy provides an opportunity to pause, reflect, and begin making meaning of those experiences differently.
WELCOME TO THE JOURNEY
I believe it is not only what happens to us in life that matters, but the meaning we make of those experiences.
I have known joy, accomplishment, and love. I have also known grief, disappointment, loss, and profound personal struggle. Because of this, I approach my work with both professional knowledge and human understanding.
The therapeutic space we create together is a nonjudgmental environment—a place where masks can be set aside and authentic exploration can begin. Healing does not require perfection. It requires honesty, awareness, and the willingness to grow.
YOU ARE NOT FAILING
If you feel as though your "recipes for life" have failed, you may be standing at an important point of growth. This is often the place where expectations and reality finally meet. Many people arrive in therapy exhausted from trying harder, over-functioning, rescuing others, or repeating painful relationship patterns they do not fully understand. You may simply be arriving at a deeper level of awareness. The experiences that bring us into therapy are often connected to our relationships—with ourselves, our partners, our families, our work, our spirituality, and the stories we have carried for years about who we are supposed to be. Therapy provides an opportunity to pause, reflect, and begin making meaning of those experiences differently.
WELCOME TO THE JOURNEY
I believe it is not only what happens to us in life that matters, but the meaning we make of those experiences. I have known joy, accomplishment, and love. I have also known grief, disappointment, loss, and profound personal struggle. Because of this, I approach my work with both professional knowledge and human understanding. The therapeutic space we create together is a nonjudgmental environment—a place where masks can be set aside and authentic exploration can begin. Healing does not require perfection. It requires honesty, awareness, and the willingness to grow.