Counseling and Coaching
In 1995 I graduated with honors from a Master’s degree program in Counseling from California University of Pennsylvania. This built upon my Bachelor’s degree in Nursing, obtained in 1981 at Montana State University, and also completed with honors. The blend of nursing, counseling, and my lifelong esoteric studies gives me, I believe, a unique perspective that can offer you a deep, holistic understanding, with a very practical rootedness.
A recent development in personal culture is the emergence of Life Coaching. I offer coaching as well; I see coaching as a subset of counseling. The focus in coaching is simply limited to the present and future, with the past left out of the discussion. I feel that my depth of training can offer a rich and integrated vision in coaching. If your preference is for a coaching approach to your work, I am happy to provide that.
My counseling style is based on my belief that we are all naturally good, loving, co-operative, intelligent and energetic, and that distress gets in the way of our acting out these truths. I believe that we have our own answers, and that counseling can help us get past the distress to access these answers. I believe that every one of us would improve our lives by engaging in periodic counseling, throughout our lifespan. I believe counseling is an activity that speaks of mental health, not mental illness.
My methods may include encouraging the use of emotional discharge, imaginative options-hunting, role-testing, and the recognition of patterned, non-useful thinking, as appropriate to and welcomed by the individual client. I may draw as well upon my backgrounds in yoga, meditation, nutrition and movement. I sometimes find exploration of the past useful: our histories often hold important keys to both understanding the present, and to better creation of our futures. In addition to the ten traditional systems examined in my graduate counseling work, my studies with Transpersonal Psychology, the Enneagram, Re-evaluation Counseling (RC, Co-counseling), Non-Violent Communication (NVC), and the chakra-based Berkeley Psychic Institute systems have also been influential for me. Serving as a bridge for others between the traditional and the “alternative” has been a lifelong pleasure and privilege for me. My goal is to help you see and understand yourself and your experience of life more healingly, to find more peace and happiness, and to offer educated and agenda-free feedback about what you bring in as your issues. I strive to model complete respect and self-responsibility, and of course, safety and confidentiality are totally assured.
For information on session fees, etc., please go to the “Individual and Couple Sessions” page…