Catherine graduated from St. Cloud State University in St. Cloud, MN with a Bachelors of Art degree in Human Biology. After graduation she obtained a job at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., establishing a Bone Histomorphometry Research Lab. After four years she accepted an invitation to Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Mich. to return to graduate school to pursue a Master’s of Science in Occupational Therapy.

Catherine’s first four years as an occupational therapist were spent working at the Greenville Hospital System’s Marshall I. Pickens Psychiatric Hospital. There she lead stress management and assertiveness training groups, co-lead anger management and was the lead therapist for her wing of the hospital. She worked with patients who were depressed, had anxiety and bipolar disorders, were sexually abused and diagnosed with schizophrenia, multiple personalities, personality disorders and had generalized poor adaptive techniques.

After four year Catherine accepted a position at the University of Kentucky where she also worked as an inpatient occupational therapist for psychiatry. Here she developed the initial evaluation that would be used for occupational therapy at UK. 

When Outpatient Rehabilitation Services moved to the Kentucky Clinic, she became the first outpatient supervisor.  She enjoyed the newness and the challenge of the being a part of the first team of therapists to establish general orthopaedic outpatient care in our new facility. After four years, Catherine took a position as an outpatient therapist treating hand patients and became certified both as a hand and a lymphedema specialist earning her national recognition as a CHT and CLT-LANA therapist.

Memberships:

• American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA)
• American Society of Hand Therapist( ASHT)
• Kentucky Occupational Therapy Association(KOTA)
• Lymphedema Association of North America(LANA)

Personal Statement

I became an occupational therapist because I love the idea of ‘therapeutic use of self’ in helping others regain function”. I especially was drawn to the opportunity for specialization and mastery, which are endless in the occupational therapy profession, and the ability to provide this education to my patients. I believe career-wise, there is nothing better than coming to work each day, being inspired by our patients' struggles, and then to focus my treatment on helping people regain their ability to engage in and enjoy their life.