My work is grounded in materialist and quantum science. I use these perspectives along with Western psychology, wisdom traditions, philosophy, and sociology in my work.
My work is also informed by my life experiences and clinical experiences. It is ever-evolving.
For my adult life, I have been providing professional services in the realms of health and healing. Because of a major accident as a teenager with resulting serious injuries as well as a near-death experience during the event, I became interested in the intersection of our physical-emotional existence and nonlocal consciousness, mortality, and the meaning of life. I also became interested in the existential impacts of physical limitations and traumatic stress as well as acute and chronic pain.
Prior to becoming a psychologist, for many years I was a bodyworker with specialties working with the same populations I work with now. In addition to bodywork, I also became interested in gaining education in the practices of Reiki and the Bengston Energy Healing Method®.
I obtained a Master's degree in philosophy, then a doctorate in Clinical Psychology, and a license as a psychologist in the state of California (CA PSY24493). I also obtained extensive training working with adults with complex and single-incident traumatic stress, chronic and terminal illness, acute and chronic pain, as well as those who were grappling with integrating transformative life experiences. Biofeedback of all sorts was part of this training as was EMDR, and of course a variety of psychotherapy approaches including other somatic, psychoanalytic, existential, cognitive-behavioral and dialectic-behavioral, as well as transpersonal (integrating the spiritual/transcendent). Clinically, I have worked in medical clinics, hospice, retreat settings, and private practice.
I have taught in academic institutions and in mental health training environments. I have supervised clinicians in training and I have provided in-service trainings to medical staff, educators, and mental health providers for over twelve years.
My background in philosophy has always provided a strong foundation for holding our human strengths and vulnerabilities. My life experiences with decades of vipassana and Zen meditation, clinical hypnosis, and transformative experiences also inform my work. I continue to train and practice natural ways to expand consciousness (enter altered states of consciousness without drugs), and to practice skills such as remote viewing and energy work for the purposes of wellbeing. I am a member of the Institute of Noetic Sciences and the Scientific and Medical Network. I am a perpetual student and have continued to study and attend professional seminars on all aspects of wellbeing.
