Background
& Experience
Marriage, Family, Child Therapist in Private Practice; Instructor
and Coordinator of Workshops and Seminars; Integral Transformative
Practice; Psychoeducation Instructor; Employee Assistance (EAP); Autogenics
Training; Parenting; Coaching; Family Constellations.
Degrees
and Certifications
Master of Arts in Marriage and Family Therapy; Marriage and Family
Therapy (Oregon T-0157); Transactional Analysis; EMDR Training - Level
II; Thought Field Therapy - Level II; Body Level Up - Level I; Systemic
and Family Constellations.
Orientation
& Approach
Originally trained in Transactional Analysis and Gestalt therapy,
my orientation now includes additional innovative resources.
As a result of my 1977 bout with cancer, I began to focus on body-mind
connection training, incorporating hypnosis, Autogenic Training, and
Focusing and Imaging techniques that more specifically addressed my
mind-body connection. I have further enhanced this area of my approach
by incorporating EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing)
Thought Field Therapy, and Family Constellations.
Personal
Comments
Becoming a teacher was one of few respected professions a young woman
of the 50's took up until she found a husband. We were a nation
of compliant women then, not yet liberated and only beginning to understand
our own needs. After I spent 8 years teaching high school
English, being married and having two children, my husband died in a
car accident. This led me to seek help with my grieving and my
single parenting. Becoming a parenting teacher and participating
in personal individual and group therapy helped me over both hurdles.
Before, I had depended on my husband to determine my reality.
When I was faced with depending only on myself, I floundered.
I needed to make a career choice, seek help with my son and daughter,
and most important, find myself. As a patient then, I began to
heal, but also to recognize my talent for understanding and helping
other people. I continued to teach by originating my own classes
in Parent Effectiveness Training, Women in Transition, Transactional
Analysis, and Stress Management. Further, conducting group therapy
made me understand how essential a sense of community is for people
seeking change in their lives. Through my parenting classes and
group therapy experiences, I realized early on that for me to teach
with any authenticity, I would best have experienced my own changes.
As a result my personal transformation has been
a part of my education.
In
my practice, I provide therapy as a partnership in healing which transform
as the client's needs change. My belief that the client's sense
of what works best has resulted in many positive outcomes for my clients.
I provide a safe environment for clients to explore their issues and
gain new perspectives for positive change in their lives. I value clients
confidentiality and right to privacy. Sometimes of course I simply
provide clarity.
With
30 years in this field, my experience has been far-reaching.
I've conducted "Warm Fuzzy Workshops" which teach healthier, more satisfying
ways of relating with others. I've generated seminars in conflict
resolution, self-esteem, women's sexuality, and codependency.
I've facilitated as a therapist for Parents United, a self-help group
for families where incest has occurred and worked in depth with adolescent
sex offenders and survivors of incest of all ages. In my
present practice I treat families coping with disruption and death,
couples dealing with impending divorce or just the stress of both parents
working, individuals who are wanting to give up on life. Along
the way, I have maintained ongoing group therapy as an integral part
of my practice. It is my personal and professional opinion that options
are always available and that reaching out for help is a courageous
first step to finding them.
