"The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are." -- Joseph Campbell
I am happy to be able to meet with clients in New Mexico and Washington, the two states I’ve come to love the most. Currently my sessions are all via telehealth, using Zoom.
I have been married for more than thirty years and have helped raise two children and a grandson. Their presence in my life has made me a better person and therapist. Aside from my work, my passions include my marriage, travel, tennis, gardening, grand-parenting, reading, community service, and carpentry. I think of myself as very fortunate.
As an undergraduate at the University of Washington, I began counseling work with young adolescents in 1970. Although I found the work inspiring, it was the mid-1970s before I set my sights on graduate studies in counseling and psychotherapy. I think I needed more life experience before I had enough confidence in the "wisdom" I would be asked to offer up -- I wasn't that far past adolescence myself when I began the work. In the meantime I worked as a counselor in agencies and several community clinics and entered therapy myself. I went on to earn a Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology.
In 1986 & '87 I lived and worked for a year in the Findhorn Community in northern Scotland. It was a year of profound learning about myself and about how a few can work together for the benefit of many. Experiencing the daily joys and challenges of life in such a tight-knit community helped me develop the courage to truly be myself, and to bring that courage and understanding to offer in therapy.
Upon my return I signed up for post-grad training with Stanley Keleman, a master bioenergetic therapist, and for many workshops with Bill O'Hanlon, a hypnotherapist and all around brilliant guy. I’ve also been profoundly inspired by the work and friendship of two mentors, the late Leonard Shaw and the late Dan Kelleher, both of Seattle. I am trained in the use of many therapeutic models (geltalt, client-centered, hypnosis, bioenergetics, relaxation training, creative visualization, mindfulness stress reduction, and others). I also held a massage therapy license for 17 years, during which I learned a lot about how we hold (constructively and destructively) emotional experience in our bodies. Oh, the stories a sore back can tell!
In 2004 the death of our son sent my wife and me back into therapy. We carry the wound with us, but we’ve both grown stronger from facing the pain, with the support of wonderful therapists and close friends; we have also discovered a deeper form of happiness; while I wish our beautiful son was still with us as a grown man, I am, paradoxically, grateful for the lessons I’ve learned from grieving. Returning to practice after much needed time off, I’ve found that my empathy and ability to sit with others’ pain and distress have increased exponentially.
The techniques I employ become woven into a different tapestry with each client. Each therapeutic relationship is different, consisting of a unique blend and range of interactions. I view and use the development of this relationship as one focus of the therapy. The length and flavor of the therapy vary greatly. I rarely see anyone for fewer than five one-hour sessions, and sometimes, when it's appropriate or necessary, I'll see people over a period of years. On occasion one or two sessions may be all that's needed or desired. I rarely make a quick and early decision about the length of therapy unless (1) the client expresses a specific practical need for this, or (2) a court order is involved. When therapy is "terminated", my door remains open in the coming months and years, as life may bring you new issues and challenges you wish to explore with someone familiar with you and your strengths.
"Our wounds are often the openings into the best and most beautiful part of us." -- David Richo
I love and treasure my work with clients. I am profoundly grateful for the challenges they bring me and for the trust and unique connections that develop between us. This work enriches my life, and it's my goal for the work to enhance yours. My experience of more than forty years has been in clinics, hospitals, agencies, in collaboration with other healers, and in private practice. I work with adults and adolescents on a wide range of concerns, including, but not limited to:
Depression & Low Mood
Fear and Anxiety
Anger
Bipolar Disorder
Addiction (for those in recovery)
Adjustment Issues
Aging
Grief & Loss
Death & Dying
Issues with Adult Children
Issues with Aging Parents
Sexuality & Gender Identity
Creative Blocks
Finding your Life Path
Family of Origin Issues
How to Turn Up your Happiness