I specialize in experiential, process-oriented somatic therapy, blended with EMDR.  I have been in private practice in Santa Barbara, California since 1982.

It is full engagement with the particular dynamics of any presenting problem that facilitates the movement to “work through.”  I have found that a process-oriented approach is effective across the broad range of issues.

I provide individual and group consultations for other therapists, both in person and via Skype.

I lead workshops and trainings in process-oriented psychotherapy with a somatic focus, as well as utilizing EMDR and variations of bilateral stimulation to access existing potential for resolution and healing.

My path as a therapist

Throughout my career, I have sought out many multi-year trainings and consultations that aligned with my desire to understand our nature, and the nature of achieving health, emotional freedom and well-being. This initially led me to the Santa Barbara Gestalt Training Center where I completed a 3-year training just after graduate school.  This work, steeped in awareness and honoring engagement with present moment dynamics, became the basis for my evolving orientation.

Through this, I began to experience what it truly means to “trust the process,” and to value non-interpretive approaches to therapy.  My workshops with Violet Oaklander (author of  Windows to Our Children) taught me how to take this understanding into working with children.  Subsequently, I explored training in Hakomi and other body-focused psychotherapies.   I sought out couples therapy trainings based on the natural dynamics of committed relationships and ways to utilize these dynamics for growth.

I was introduced to Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) in 1993.  I quickly recognized that using bilateral (left-right) stimulation impacts brain functioning to accesses our organic drive to take things to completion. This had an efficiency I had never experienced before.  I  took additional training and became a training facilitator for the EMDR Institute, as well as an Approved Consultant with the EMDR International Association.

My interest in working with the body and movement guided me to Somatic Experiencing training, and Certification as an SE Practitioner. Taking a deeper understanding of the body and the workings of the nervous system into my experience using EMDR and bilateral stimulation gave me a dynamic blend of ways to access natural propensities for growth very efficiently.  This focus continues to direct my study, training and practice.

My interest in understanding how the body, mind and emotions work together led me into “Touch Training for Psychotherapists” with Kathy Kain, a gifted body-worker and Somatic Experiencing Trainer. The value of utilizing touch is not traditionally understood by psychotherapists.  I appreciate the powerful impact of directing awareness through non-manipulative touch to find ways through blocked and withheld responses.  Particularly with traumatic reactions, both acute and developmental, I’ve found that adding this approach facilitates a working through of certain difficulties that had been very challenging to access.

All this has been personally supported by a commitment to my own emotional, psychological, spiritual and physical growth.  Meditation has been an important part of my path for over 30 years, and in the past 3 years I have added a practice of Qi Gong (Sheng Zhen) movements, which I find to be very helpful.

Licenses and Certifications
Licensed as a Marriage and Family Therapist #MFC17516 in California since 1982
Licensed as a Marriage and Family Therapist #119 in Colorado since 1989

Approved Therapist by the EMDR International Association
Approved Consultant by the EMDR International Association

Facilitator with the EMDR Institute Training Staff since 1994

Somatic Experiencing Practitioner
Somatic Experiencing Touch Skills Practitioner

Education
MA in Counseling Psychology, University of California at Santa Barbara 1980
BA from College of William and Mary, VA  1975

Graduate School Instructor
Pacifica Graduate Institute 1988-90
Antioch University 1996-98

Workshop Instructor

EMDRIA Approved Workshops
University of California at Santa Barbara
Antioch University
EMDRIA International Conference
CAMFT Santa Barbara
Colorado AAMFT

Webinar Instructor 2014-2016

Natural Processing Trainings www.naturalprocessing.org

Natural Processing Trainings 2014-2019

• Part One:

• Bozeman, MT

• Santa Barbara, CA

• Salt Lake City, UT

• Chicago, IL

• Florham Park, NJ

• Atlanta, GA

• Houston, TX

• Berkeley, CA

• Calgary, AB, Canada

• Monterey, CA

• Missoula, MT

• Boston, MA

• Austin, TX

• Washington, DC

• Sacramento/Folsom, CA

• Leydon, Massachusetts

• Los Angeles, CA

• Edmonton, AB, Canada

• Portland, OR

• Denver, CO

• Byfield, MA