>>> I have been a professional chef, a travel writer, a film-maker and a restorer of old houses, a talk show producer and translator of books. I have a passion for travel and have visited a few continents, consulted governments on public policies and founded charitable non-profits for young people and dying people.
And as I begin the last third of my life I have come to the career that I feel the most passionate about: counseling psychology.
I began studyingpsychology in 1979 in anintensive clinical university program from which I dropped out, moved to Paris and became a journalist. For the next 12 years I traveled around the world writing about anything but human psychology!
I came back to mental health as a trainer and patient advocate at the height of the AIDS epidemic in Intensive Care Units in a handful of hospitals throughout Southwestern France where I coached and trained patients and medical personnel for nine years specializing in patient-provider communication.
When I moved back to the US in 2000 (after surfing the dot.com wave briefly) I got a dual masters in clinical and social psychology in a school that emphasizes psycho-dynamic thought.
For four years I helped children (and their families) with anxiety, depression, and learning difficulties in San Francisco.
I then moved to a sliding scale non-profit clinic for individuals and couples dealing with depression, addiction, intimacy and finding meaning in their lives. This is where I discovered my passion for "private-practice therapy". It's amazing what can happen in fifty minutes!
During that time I also helped in a hospice - counseling and learning from people facing their own death', I helped launch a mental health program targeting gay men in Switzerland and I built cabins for a meditation retreat center in the Sonoma hills.
Feel free to contact me if you have a specific request. Together we can brainstorm about possible strategies. If I can't help you I can surely direct you to someone who can.
> Education
BA in Humanities MA in Clinical and Social Psychology Certificate in Political science Journalism
Licensed by the State of California as Marriage and Family Therapist
> Experience
Ten years experience in hospitals as a patient advocate, counselor. Four years working in schools with children and families. Three years of experience conducting counseling/psychotherapy with individuals and couples.
Twelve years as an international writer and journalist.
>>> I have been a professional chef, a travel writer, a film-maker and a restorer of old houses, a talk show producer and translator of books. I have a passion for travel and have visited a few continents, consulted governments on public policies and founded charitable non-profits for young people and dying people.
