Experience,
you can count on...
Personal & Professional
“Life will give you whatever experience is most helpful for the evolution of your consciousness. How do you know this is the experience you need? Because this is the experience you are having at the moment.”
- Eckhart Tolle
I earned my Bachelor’s degree in Human Development at Lesley College before obtaining a Masters in Developmental Psychology from Lesley and, later, a Doctorate in Psychology from Meridian University. Additionally, I completed post-graduate training and master’s level certifications in Neuro-Linguistic Programming, Clinical Hypnotherapy, Hakomi, Pre- and Peri-Natal Psychology, Somatic Psychotherapy and System’s Theory for Businesses and Families.
My work has been greatly influenced by thought leaders and innovative teachers and mentors in body-based and integrative approaches, including Judith Aston (Aston Patterning), John Upledger (Cranial-Sacral Therapy), Janet Adler (Authentic Movement), Olivia Corson (Body Tales), David Quigley (Alchemical Hypnotherapy), Ron Kurtz (Hakomi), Stan Grof (Non-Ordinary States of Consciousness) Barbara Findeisen, (Pre- and Peri-Natal Psychology) and Bert Hellinger (Systemic Constellations).
My professional experience began with the study and application of movement and bodywork modalities; specifically, the study of postural alignment relative to early developmental psychological and emotional trauma. This work focused on helping individuals discover and resolve the ways conscious and unconscious memories express in the physical structure and in the nervous system.
I studied Neuro-Linguistic Programming with Carl Buchheit at NLPMarin, where I completed their Master Practitioner level training, as well as their advanced trainings in Systems Theory, Attachment Theory and Holographic NLP. I was an Assistant Teacher at NLP Marin for two years during which time my private practice evolved to include sessions centered on addiction issues of all kinds–food addiction, drug and alcohol addiction, attachments to drama and negative people, borderline and narcissistic couples dynamics, etc.
While I was working at NLP Marin, I continued to develop my business consulting portfolio. As an independent contractor, I worked through the California Leadership Center to bring transformative resources to executives and organizations, both in Silicon Valley, California, and across the country.
I continue to enjoy a balance of executive coaching/organizational consulting combined with my private therapeutic consultation practice. While work with individuals and couples is the core of what I do, the reality is that all human systems share fundamental principles and dynamics. I enjoy translating the psychological language and concepts of human development in business settings, specifically in leadership training and executive coaching. Mergers and acquisitions are a specialty, where the integration of newly blending business systems and cultures may require the passing away of old process or communication patterns and the birth of new perceptions and relationships.
As the two tracks of my practice evolved, I observed more vividly how the system dynamics in families were mirrored in business and organizations. Systemic constellations became an important resource and tool for working with issues within all the human systems I served. Developed by Bert Hellinger, a German psychotherapist, constellations originally focused on family systems to disclose the deeper forces that unknowingly influence our thoughts, behaviors and emotional experiences through multiple generations. Over time Hellinger’s approach has been applied to every naturally existing system, including organizations, environmental systems, international and inter-species relationships, as well as larger issues in our communities and in the world. I specialize in applying constellation theory and practice to areas and issues in a system that appear stuck, immovable or resistant to transformation.
I was on staff for the S.T.A.R. Process for 10 years, where I refined my approach to the blending of psychological and somatic techniques.
At STAR the focus was on supporting the transformation of unconscious beliefs and unwanted behaviors rooted in pre- and peri-natal trauma and abuse. Working with a team of professionals we celebrated the possibility of living lives no longer dictated by unconscious reactivity to the traumatic wounds of the past. Understanding the role of conception, gestation and birth trauma in adult identity and behavior led to training and certification as a Birth Doula and Birth Educator, and eventually a Death Attendant. Being present to the transformative transitions of birth and death has been an on-going influence in my work for over 20 years now.
In this same vein, following on the theme of birth and death, and as an outgrowth of the STAR process, I was trained by Stan and Christina Grof in the facilitation of Spiritual Emergencies. Spiritual Emergence is a natural, amplified and accelerated process of evolving human consciousness. Increased awareness seeks to manifest through the body at an increased rate and volume that can be unexpected and concerning. It can also be misinterpreted as mental illness or a psychotic break. It is, actually, a transformative event, generally characterized by a high level of sensitivity and an embodied download of universal interconnectedness. Assisting individuals in the navigation and comprehension of these unusual and challenging experiences has given me the opportunity to work even more deeply with the profound role of birth and death in our everyday experience. Serving my clients in this capacity, I bear witness to identity deaths and paradigm shifts that radically alter perceptions and beliefs. Spiritual emergence fundamentally transforms how a person knows themselves to be alive and in the world.
The most recent addition to my training and client offerings is the work I now do with plant medicines and other biological allies. Having been a student of shamanic practices, Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine and Conscious Nutrition for 40 years, I understand the usefulness and efficacy of incorporating dietary and plant support in the process of awakening and evolving consciousness. We are so often limited by our life’s circumstances; conditioned to know ourselves and the world in a particular way. These perceptions can limit our capacity to see the potential and true purpose of our lives. Food and plant allies can help clients break through long-held resistance, mental barriers and old, outmoded beliefs. The experience of non-ordinary consciousness, with the assistance of “biologicals” can enable a person to discover within themselves that it is safe to surrender, to defend less and receive more. I am a member of Ketamine Psychotherapy Associates and a contributor and volunteer for the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, (MAPS).
Teaching, public speaking, education, and research has been a natural progression as my work with clients has resulted in transformative shifts for so many. I started the Center for Attention Rehabilitation and Education, C.A.R.E., a non-profit, networking a broad cross-section of care providers in a variety of disciplines, making available at low or no-cost an array of alternative health and wellness services to underserved populations, most specifically to veterans and their families. Research requires a great deal of time so my research has been primarily contained within the Master and Doctoral programs I completed. I have chosen to devote most of my focus presently to my private practice. I have been serving the non-profit vision and mission, for the past 20 years.
In addition to my professional interests and accomplishments, I enjoy hiking, soaring, and ocean fishing. I love traveling and immersing myself in other cultures. I am a devoted student of Iyengar Yoga; I am a devoted student of Integral Yoga and the Bhagavad Gita as taught by Sri Aurobindo and The Mother . . . and I am a lover of the sea.