Despite the pain, confusion, and woundedness that can touch our lives so deeply at times, I am convicted that each of us has a core that is whole, healthy, and unfragmented by our conditioning or painful experiences. In my work with you I hold a space for that wholeness, even as we address your current challenge. Our work together takes place in a safe, respectful, and collaborative relationship that allows you to address your concerns. I am an integrative counselor, which means I use ideas and tools from various schools of thought about counseling to address the whole person and to help you find solutions and personal growth. If you want to bring your spiritual life into the counseling process I offer a unique combination of training as a mental health counselor and interfaith minister that can be helpful to you.

Examples of practices that may be used in your sessions are:

Mindful Awareness - being intentionally focused non-judgmentally in the present rather than doing one thing while thinking about everything else - can be helpful to your counseling work. Mindful awareness can free you from suffering as it brings you into the NOW for greater peace and clarity.

Solution-Focused-Brief-Therapy invites you to envision how you would like your life to be, helps you to identify what is already working, and encourages you to do more of that.

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy helps you examine thoughts and behaviors that are not serving you well.

Creative expression such as creating a mandala or journaling may be used to help you reflect on your life and to examine patterns and symbols that may be important to you. Sand tray is another tool that can be used for reflection and understanding.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy introduces mindfulness practice, and then addresses ways to handle stress, regulate your emotions, and improve interpersonal relationships.

Transpersonal psychology addresses the whole person including the spiritual aspect of your life. Contemplative psychotherapy integrates clinical counseling with practices such as mindful meditation.

My formal training includes a BA in Elementary Education in the early 1970's, a Masters in Counseling from Southwestern College in Santa Fe, NM in 2009, and ministerial ordination from One Spirit Interfaith Seminary in New York City in 2012. I have many hours of continuing education in mindfulness practices, grief and loss and being with death and dying, trauma work, and some personality diagnostic tools. I was privileged to spend a week in a mindfulness course for wellness practitioners taught by Jon Kabat Zin, one of the prominent pioneer teachers of mindfulness practices for westerners. Informal training includes participation in a variety of workshops and retreats through many years on topics related to personal and spiritual growth.

If you think my profile indicates a good fit, I am happy to offer you a free thirty minute consultation to get acquainted and confirm this. My regular fee is $100, and I offer a sliding scale if counseling with me wouldn't be possible otherwise.