Background
"If you can see your path laid out in front of you step by step, you know it's not your path. Your own path you make with every step you take. That's why it's your path."
- Joseph Campbell
I have my Master's degree in Counseling Psychology and I am licensed as a Marriage and Family Therapist (Lic. #47522) by the California Board of Behavioral Sciences.
Before becoming a psychotherapist, I had a graduate degree and career in the fitness-wellness field. Following initiation, and some disillusionment, in the technical world of research and physical science, I gradually migrated to the humanities, called to a more intimate search into mysteries of mind, emotions, and living.
I did my graduate study in psychology at John F. Kennedy University in the School of Holistic Studies. This program paid respect to the depth and mystery of living rather than subscribing to pathologizing or reductionistic models. There are greatly varied beliefs and approaches to psychology and therapy, with different perspectives on how much it is either a science or an art. My therapeutic endeavors are supported by ongoing training so that I have at my disposal the science and skills to help others know themselves and enrich their lives. I follow research in neuroscience, which offers powerful and hopeful facts on brain adaptation and the role of psychotherapy (neuroplasticity). I also have experience in Dialectical Behavior Therapy, and regularly integrate these concepts into my sessions. The core element of mindfulness practice is particularly important and helpful skill.
I have focused the bulk of my specialized education on depth training in existential-humanistic models. I am passionate and enlivened by this philosophy and way of working with myself and others.
Resources and Inspirations
Irvin Yalom, M.D. - Books
Rollo May, Ph.D.
James Bugental, Ph.D.
Websites/Links: