In 1973, Strickland appeared as Sister Ann in the season four episode, "Almost a Nun's Story", on
The Mary Tyler Moore Show. She appeared on the television series
M*A*S*H as Captain Helen Whitfield, a nurse in an ongoing battle with alcoholism. She appeared as Courtney, Jerry's love interest, in the episodes titled "Jerry Robinson Crusoe" (3.13) and “My Boy Guillermo” (4.19) of
The Bob Newhart Show. She appeared in the pilot episode of the television series
Night Court as the public defender. She also guest-starred in the
Cagney & Lacey episode "Suffer the Children" season one, episode four. Strickland played a struggling rancher's daughter in the 1987
Highway to Heaven episode "A Dream of Wild Horses", alongside actor
Richard Farnsworth. She played
nurse practitioner Marilyn McGrath in the 1988 TV series
HeartBeat. This was one of the Strickland appeared in 11 episodes of
Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, from 1993 to 1994, as the character Olive Davis. She guest-starred in the
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episode "
Paradise", as the character Alixus. In 1994–95, she appeared as Mrs. Landis of Doubleday in the
Seinfeld season six episodes "The Chaperone" and "The Switch". She appeared on the U.S. Navy series
JAG first-season episode "War Cries" as Ambassador Bartlett, the U.S. ambassador to Peru. Strickland also played Esther MacInerney, the wife of
Martin Sheen's presidential chief of staff character, in the 1995 movie
The American President. She played Dr. Rene Spielman on
ER season six, episode six, "The Peace of Wild Things". Strickland was a cast member in the brief run of the 2002
CBS television series
First Monday, playing an
Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. == Personal life ==