My Training

I hold three graduate degrees and an undergraduate degree in Social Work from University of Michigan. My primary training, an M.A. in Counseling Psychology and Marriage and Family Therapy is at the heart of my work. I believe that working with our early experiences in our first circle, our family of origin, provides the most fertile ground for self-witnessing and change. I also believe in the wisdom of the body, or somatic experience is the most honest and real place where the deepest healing can take place. I use a combination of mind/body or somatic work, guided meditation, Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, relational therapy and EMDR to address the deepest hurts and traumas. Through psychotherapy, we arrive at greater compassion for ourselves and others, which enables us to forgive and let go the judgements and misunderstandings about ourselves which we may have carried around with us for years. 

I have a second Master’s in Spiritual Psychology from University of Santa Monica. This degree informs the soul of my work. The literal translation of the word Psychology is “the study of the soul.”  True joy and the deepest peace isn’t to be found through the mind, the body, or the emotions - it is deeply held in the bottomless well of our spirits. This is not about religion or our spiritual beliefs - it is about our awareness and our relationship with our own meaning in the biggest scheme of life. It is my belief that we are here on earth for our souls (or the very deepest parts of ourselves, beyond emotions, thoughts, and physical experience) to learn and grow. We are all here together, enrolled in a sort of Earth School with one another. Each of us has a unique curriculum. The way to know what we are here to learn is to look at what challenges us. The people and situations that cause us irritation, pain and suffering are our teachers. Our ‘symptoms’ - anxiety, depression, unresolved grief, self-doubt, trauma - are the suffering that grows from misunderstandings and judgements we've made about our lessons and teachers. Effective psychotherapy helps uncover and heal not only emotional suffering and mental misunderstanding, but also spiritual alienation through the discovery of our life’s greatest lessons and meaning. It helps us observe and cooperate with our lessons, rather try to control or ‘fix’ them.

My third graduate degree is a PhD in Health and Human Services. My coursework and, later, dissertation studied the impact that social biases have upon divorced mothers as single parents. The social context that we live in effects us profoundly - the way we are treated and thought about by our neighbors, friends, and communities largely influences our self-esteem and sense of personal value. I am ever-mindful of how it feels to be in the skin of someone who is seen in society as slightly inferior - because she is an unmarried mom, because he can’t support his kids, because of her race or the scars on her body, or simply because he is unemployed.  We are whole beings - mental, emotional, physical, social, and spiritual. The deepest healing is possible when a person’s whole self is supported.

My Life

My work is based upon my training, my clinical and personal experience. Education and training is on-going. My current areas of interest is in meditation’s impact upon the brain and EMDR, both of which appear to work directly with the brain and healing trauma. Like most psychotherapists, most of what I’ve learned has been from a combination of ongoing professional training, experiences working with my patients, as well as receiving psychotherapy myself. I’ve been a practitioner of meditation and spiritual learning for many years. I’m fortunate to have gathered a wealth of information from all these experiences but continue to be a student as well as teacher. I’ve lived in the Boulder area since 1993, and lucky to be surrounded by my large extended family, which includes my two adult sons, granddaughter, and daughter (in-law).