born in portland, oregon to new age parents james was an only child raised in an extremely sheltered home. his parents actively participated in several eastern religions, changing faiths often enough to leave james confused and resentful of spirituality as a whole.

gangly and awkward as a child, james was often bullied at school. his parents, as pacifists, advised him to confront his attackers with words of acceptance. he returned home with a broken wrist and nose. it was around this time that james completely rejected his parents lifestyle, dedicating himself instead to the study of science - particularly the human brain which fascinated him.

the rough time he had while at school also spurred in him compassion for those who were different, those who were singled out. this combined with his interest in anatomy brought him to boston to study psychiatric medicine at boston university when he was 22.

fresh out of his first four years of college, which his extreme intellect had helped him to skate through with little trouble james began to flounder while attending medical school. the pressures placed on the new students were more intense than his upbringing in portland had trained him for and after a year and a half he suffered a near nervous breakdown, dropping out of school and closing himself off from many of those he'd met through classes.

following his abrupt exit from med school he turned his attention to a degree in social work, not wanting to entirely abandon his goal of working in the mental health field. he found himself equally exhausted by the workload and eventually returned to complete his doctorate. upon his graduation he was immediately offered residency at mclean hospital just outside of the city. over the year he has secured a permanent position not only on the medical staff as chief but also as the program director and head therapist for their schizophrenia/bi-polar in-patient and out-patient program.

james currently lives in allston with his cat siggy.

he remains as socially awkward as he was in his youth, focusing much of his attention on work and academics in order to stave off interaction with others. he is far more comfortable with his patients than he is with those in the "real world.

he is affectionally known as jimmy to most of his friends and family but he secretly loathes the title - he finds it juvenile.

he is currently in the process of opening a new wing dedicated strictly to hallucinigenic patients, in the hopes that studying them might provide further introspect into the workings of the human psyche.

james is particularly fascinated with phobias and their origins. he has been working independently on a thesis that could provide a new treatment for phobic patients but he is not ready to present it - or deal with the red tape that would come from an official physical study.