My goal is to provide safety and bring curiosity so that together we may explore what is creating uncertainty, fear, judgment, or overwhelm in your life or work.

Education & Training

• M.A. Counseling Psychology, 1998  Pacifica Graduate Institute, Santa Barbara CA

• B.A. Psychology, 1986 University of Washington, Seattle, WA

• B.A. Speech Communication (Rhetoric), 1986 University of Washington, Seattle, WA

• Human Resources Training Specialist Program 1987 University of Washington, Seattle WA

• Certificate in Focusing; Ann Weiser Cornell

• Certified Trauma Informed Yoga Teacher (200 hour); Awakened Heart Embodied Mind, Santa Monica, CA

• Let Your Yoga Dance Teacher; Kripalu, MA

• Qualified Movement Medicine Teacher and Facilitator; Devon, England

My Journey

I have always been deeply curious about people and why we do what we do, think what we think and believe, and why we behave in the ways that we do. So, it was natural for me to study Psychology, Philosophy and Rhetoric in college. I received an excellent undergraduate education at the University of Washington where the primary focus in psychology was on cognitive-behavioral approaches to change. And while I still use many of those concepts in my work, I have also found them to be quite limited in their effectiveness at creating deep and lasting change.

I have always been interested in social change, and so I pursued a second undergraduate major in Speech Communication (Rhetoric) which was really a way to dive deeply into how we use language to connect, to get our needs met and to create change socially. This degree allowed me to study interpersonal communication, group communication, philosophy of language, persuasion, conflict resolution and much more. I continue to draw on the depth and breadth of those studies in my life and work.

When I found Pacifica Graduate Institute, I knew that I had come home – home to way of thinking, being, and working in the world. The approach to psychology at Pacifica meant that I could combine my interests of tending to both inner change and outer change in the world. I not only received the best clinical training a therapist could want, but it also helped that we looked at psychology from a historical perspective, including mythology, religion and literature – the myriad of ways that different cultures have addressed ‘psychological’ issues before the word psychology was used in the way that we now know it. With a wider angle lens on, one with more perspective than the one that a collapsed individualistic story tells us, we can see that not all of what we are struggling with has to do with our personal journey: we are embedded in cultural stories and transpersonal realities that cannot not imprint both healthy and often the not so healthy adaptations of our ancestors (think 7 generations).

Studying brain science (neurobiology) and the research on trauma have been a passion of mine for that last 10+ years. It’s an exciting time to be a therapist as we are understanding, creating and pulling together such helpful approaches to helping people live a more meaningful life! My post graduate studies and trainings have included the invaluable work of Eugene Gendlin and Focusing Oriented Psychotherapy, and the work of Alan Shore, Dan Siegel, Bonnie Badenoch and other interpersonal neurobiologists, who have taken seriously early attachment experiences and the importance of relationships and the effects of trauma to new levels. We now have the technology to see deeply into the human brain and to link that up with 40+ years of research on attachment so we can see how early experiences shape the brain. At the same time we are learning important ways that we can change the way we are wired to create connections. All this work has only circled us back and reinforced the wisdom in so many ancient practices and beliefs. The need and necessity for dance, music, poetry, ceremony, community, and some form of prayer that reminds us that we are not alone, that allows us to remember that we belong, that we are not separate.

As I am always curious and learning, and as I am always seeking to become a more whole person and a better clinician, I have found it invaluable to include working with the body, with the imagination, with dreams, the ancestors, and with the voice, as we need all of this to help us become more at home, more relaxed, more connected, and more at peace in being who we are really are meant to be.