Professional Biography and Personal Statement
I graduated from the California Institute of Integral Studies with an MA in Integral Counseling Psychology in 1985, and was licensed in the state of California in 1987. My early training was in depth psychology and humanistic psychotherapy. From the beginning of my career I have been very interested in what happens to people after traumatic events, and have felt drawn to work with adults who were traumatized as children through physical, sexual and/or emotional abuse.
I "grew up" professionally as the field of trauma "grew up", steeped in the burgeoning advances of the field. Over the past 25 years, I have developed both a deep, theoretical understanding of the inner world of the traumatized self, and the practical skills and relational skills to address the specialized needs of traumatized people in therapy. But it is from working with each individual person who has experienced very painful and frightening traumatic events that I have gained my deepest understanding, which led to my strong passion and commitment to this work. I will be forever grateful for being included on these healing journeys.