ABOUT ME

MY STYLE AND APPROACH

I come to my work as a psychotherapist from many years of practical experience coaching and counseling people from all walks of life, all of whom were seeking relief from suffering and a doorway into an experience of greater confidence and ease. My passion lies in supporting people on their path toward wholeness, personal fulfillment and authentically expressed lives.

My approach is warm, respectful and collaborative. I understand that the choice to come to therapy is a courageous one, and I see my role primarily as a facilitator of your own, unfolding process. Every one of us struggles with fear and self-doubt and the negative beliefs and thoughts that attempt to undermine our sense of adequacy. I’ve grown to understand that this conditioning (what we were taught to believe about ourselves) is insidious, and that a significant amount of our energy - our life force - goes into managing these critical “voices”. But I strongly believe that, despite what the “voices of conditioning” tell us, we are not inadequate or incapable. We are not broken, nothing needs to be fixed, and we have all we need to create lives that are rich and fulfilling.

I am trained as a Somatic therapist, and so I bring a body-oriented approach to my work. By paying attention to our physical selves we gain awareness and knowledge of our experience that is not always available to us through thinking and talking. I find that real change and transformation happens when there is a dialogue between our minds and bodies.

I also bring a spiritual approach to my work. The process of developing a “witnessing mind”, whereby we may observe our responses to situations without believing that that’s “who I am, or have to be”, is integral to how I work. Without this capacity to step back from our experience, and see the process of it and not just the content, we remain too easily at the mercy of our conditioned beliefs and assumptions about ourselves and others.

MY BACKGROUND

My training as a psychotherapist took place at the Center for Somatic Psychotherapy and the Marina Counseling Center, in San Francisco, CA. I also have 3 years of training in Psychosynthesis, a transpersonal psychotherapy modality that utilizes imagery and dialogue between the "subpersonalities" that make up our sense of our "self". In addition, I have trained in several elementary school settings, utilizing Sandplay as well as other child-centered playtherapy modalities.

I have maintained a life-coaching private practice since 2001, working with a diverse clientele with issues ranging from relationships to careers, spiritual growth to creativity. I also bring 20 plus years as a student and practitioner of Zen Buddhism and the Diamond Heart spiritual approach.

I have facilitated emotional support groups and workshops for adults and children at the Center for Attitudinal Healing in Sausalito for over 18 years, around such themes as loss and grief, diversity issues and general life process. To my work with children I bring my experience as a pre-school teacher, tutor, teacher of art and theatre improv, and parent of an adopted child.

California Institute of Integral Studies, MA in Counseling Psychology, 2013
The Coaches Training Institute, C.P.C.C., Certified in 2000
The Ridhwan School, Diamond Heart Spiritual Program, 2007-present
Psychosynthesis Training Program, John Firman and Ann Gila, 1997-2000
The Center for Attitudinal Healing, Group & Workshop Facilitator, 1997-present
Congregation Beth Shalom Preschool, Teacher, 2008-2010